


Kingdom Come | Haikyuu RPG AU

by The_Book_Katt125



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), All Haikyuu teams are kingdoms, Basically the plot of Haikyuu but make it cliche fantasy, F/F, F/M, Gen, Haikyuu!! Manga Spoilers, Inconsistent posting, Karasuno is a kingdom, M/M, My First AO3 Post, some are still the same age, well some aged-up characters, will update tags as I go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 82,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27472768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Book_Katt125/pseuds/The_Book_Katt125
Summary: Hinata Shoyou is just a peasant in the kingdom of Karasuno. However, destiny calls one day when the Amanojaku rises and he is enlisted into the Karasuno army and has to hone his inborn superpowers of the crow, like many of the Karasuno guards in order to protect the kingdom, help other kingdoms and ultimately slay the evil spirit.--------------------------------------------Just another Haikyuu AU amongst thousands. This is NOT Haikyuu quest but will probably have inspirations from it. In fact, it's just another cliche fantasy story with a cliche plot, as well as the major plot points of the canon Haikyuu. Also, an inconsistent tone between taking myself too seriously and not seriously at all. Basically uploading my Wattpad fic onto here, don't really care for an audience. Characters belong to Haruichi Furudate, author of the Haikyuu manga, as well as its anime adaptation.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, as of posting this, Sarukawa Tech would have just appeared in the anime, so technically it isn't a spoiler any more.

_**Kingdom of Sarukawa** _

"Give it back!" she shouted.

"Hah! Only if you can catch me!" the boy yelled back at her, swinging across the treetops, her doll in his hand.

"No fair Taiga! Stop showing off your magic!" she yelled. Taiga snickered and only waved his tail made of maroon-coloured magic energy. However, even if it wasn't a real appendage, it still acted like one, getting Taiga from one tree branch to the next. Every time his arms missed one, his tail would throw the doll into the air, freeing it up so he can grab onto the branch with it before catching the doll in his hand. His friend, on the other hand, could only stay on the forest floor and let her legs carry her through the foliage. Taiga used his tail to hold onto a branch, suspending him in the air as he looked down at the girl

"Oh sorry Mina, I don't mean to show off, I was just born luckier than you!" Taiga stuck his tongue out at her, making an obnoxious face that merely infuriated Mina down below.

"Get down here, now!" Mina yelled, panting heavily. For a moment, Taiga reached his hand out, dangling the doll in front of her, looking as if he was about to drop it. Mina looked up, a glint of hope in her eyes. Her doll didn't drop. Instead, she was met with a stick thrown her way, barely missing her face.

"Hey! That's dangerous, Taiga!" Mina yelled, softer than before, clearly out of breath. Exhausted, she threw a small rock back at him before leaving in a huff.

"Hey, where you going?"

"Home, where all my other dolls are waiting!" Taiga decided to sit himself down on the branch. No way was he risking standing on the ground with an angry Mina around. His eyelids began feeling heavier and heavier and soon, he was snoring.

When Taiga awoke, the stars were already out. He yawned and made his way home through the all too familiar forest, his path illuminated by his magic tail. He and Mina had lived all their lives in the area surrounding the forest, it was the only option for poorer people like him, after all. His village stood at the outskirts of the forest, near the border to the capital, which was where the higher classes lived. And at the centre of it all was the palace, a glistening golden monkey standing in its open square. Taiga had always wondered how it was like in the palace, in the capital. Whatever, the rich could keep their capital, so long as Mina was there with him. So long as...

Taiga's eyes widened when he saw what was in front of him. The light from his tail was snuffed out by the light of the flames that engulfed his house. A scream would've escaped his mouth if he hadn't spotted the one responsible for destroying his home. Holding a torch in his hand, a six feet tall warrior covered head to toe in magical energy armour. Standing next to him was a flag bearing a crest with a dog on it.

_Inubushi? What are they doing here?!_

Taiga slowly crept backwards, there was no way he was staying around with a soldier known for their group tactics, ferocious bite and heightened senses of hearing and smell. _Wait, heightened senses of hearing and smell?_ Taiga nearly peed his pants when the warrior turned towards him, his gaze so menacing it pierced through his chest.

Everything that happened next was all a blur to Taiga. He remembered swinging desperately through the trees, the thundering footsteps of the Inubushi warrior below, and was just generally losing his mind.

_Where's mom?! Where's dad?! Are they- Did he- What is he even doing here?! Where's Mina?! Where's everybody?! Are they safe?! Did the guards save them?! What's going on?! Where am I even going-_

The sudden cold feeling of the earth jolted him from his racing thoughts, though he still couldn't process that he had run out of magic and his tail had disappeared. Neither could he process the charred pink doll in front of him and what it meant for his friend. He couldn't even process the sight before him, pillars of smoke rising from the glowing capital, loud screams tearing through the quiet night that had put him to sleep earlier, a loud blast that preceded the royal palace crumbling down, along with ropes that latched themselves onto the golden monkey statue that pulled it down out of sight.

Taiga remained motionless and speechless as he felt himself being lifted off the ground and slung over the warrior's shoulder. He took one last look at the burning capital, witnessing a dark shadow growing in the smoke, menacing crimson eyes fading in and out of the blackness, giant dark claws emerged from the smoke columns, and an inhuman roar that drowned out the terrified screams. Taiga clutched the pink doll tightly in his hands, only muttering one word before his vision went dark.

_**Amanojaku...** _


	2. Running

**_Kingdom of_** **_Karasuno_ **

The first rays of dawn broke through and stung Natsu in her left eye, giving her an unpleasant start to the morning. Groaning and throwing aside her stuffed crow to the floor, she made her way to the small wooden bathtub that was already filled with nice warm water. Natsu sighed and rubbed her still tired eyes, knowing full well who set up the bath for her.

"Shoyou!" she yelled as loud as a tired 9-year-old could. No response. Natsu sighed and sunk deeper into her morning bath. Her brother was always up early in the morning doing who knows what. Whatever, so long as he wasn't bothering their mom, right?

* * *

Everyone did their best to make way for the head full of fluffy orange hair dashed through the marketplace. It was practically their morning routine now, only a few tired souls not making it far away enough. Those unfortunate people would either have their backs scratched or their feet crushed, but it was a small price to pay for guaranteeing no collisions.

"There goes that Hinata again!"

"You think he's ever killed someone by crashing into them?"

"You think anyone's tried to catch him?"

"Well, the guards certainly can't!"

It was only a few minutes every day and no one ever got seriously injured, so they never really cared. No one knew why he ran down the street at dawn. They only recognised him as 'that Hinata' because of his signature tangerine hair.

When Hinata reached the familiar alleyway shortcut, he skilfully made the sharp, nearly 90-degree turn, practically dodging into it like a cheetah. The alleyway itself wasn't a smooth sail either, crates and homeless people all sat in his way. Hinata was not fazed. He had been doing this ever since he could run. One foot on the first crate was all he needed to keep his momentum that kept him propelling across the crates and over the sleeping homeless. Once he was out of the alleyway, he was out of the common realm and in the fields of the Karasuno countryside where farmers tilled the vast lands and beggars sat by the roads doing their best to survive, just like he was.

Hinata made his way in front of the small shabby stone and wooden mixed hut that he and his family called home. He had torn a new hole to join the many others in his yellow shirt, a new tear in the fabrics of his blue pants, both from running around and performing all of those stunts. Like usual. In his dusty hands, he held four pork buns whose origins didn't matter. What mattered was they were in his hands. He pushed the chipped and battered wooden door lightly, lest they live in a house with no door at all.

"Natsu! I'm home! I got us breakfast!" he exclaimed excitedly. Natsu popped her head out from behind a wall, drooling at the sight of the pork buns. She had a coral sweater on in as decent of a condition as it could. The two siblings plopped themselves on the floor, sitting at their small wooden bench they called a 'table'. Hinata handed two pork buns to his sister, who pouted in response.

"Shoyou! Stop giving me most of the food! With all that jumping and running, you're probably the hungriest here!" she complained, taking only one of the pork buns Hinata gave her. Hinata smiled widely in response, thrusting the other pork bun into her hand.

"No, I'm fine! You have it! You're younger after all!" Natsu thrust the pork bun back at him, and they went back and forth like this until tears started to form in the corners of Natsu's eyes, which made Hinata surrender immediately and swallowed the pork bun. Once he gulped it down, the droplets by Natsu's eyes immediately disappeared as if she wasn't about to bawl her eyes out a second ago.

"Haha! Yay! Now let's go give one to mom!" cheered Natsu. Hinata grabbed the last pork bun and eagerly followed the other little tangerine into their mom's room. Mrs Hinata sat up in her bed and smiled when she saw her two children, Natsu climbing onto the bed with her while Hinata kneeled beside it. She couldn't have been any happier seeing her children alive and cheerful, but her smile quickly disappeared when she saw the pork bun in Hinata's hands.

"Shoyou, where did you get that from?" she asked weakly, coughing slightly to add to it.

"Oh, it doesn't matter, mom! Just eat it, here!" Hinata insisted. He held the bun out in front of his mother's mouth. Mrs Hinata shook her head softly and looked her son in the eyes with a sad face.

"Shoyou, you know stealing isn't right, go return this to the vendor now."

"But mom! You'll starve! The guy didn't even notice it was gone anyway!" Hinata felt the warmth of his mother's hand on his cheek and saw the weak but warm, loving smile on her face. He still pouted though and turned to Natsu for help, only to see her resting on their mom's lap, her eyes closed. She seemed so peaceful, making her mother chuckle softly.

"Fine, I won't take any more pork buns... but only if you eat this one!" Hinata said, once again thrusting the bun in front of his mom's mouth.

"Promise?" Mrs Hinata asked. Hinata nodded enthusiastically, so his mother could only sigh and open her mouth, allowing her son to feed her the pork bun. She hated to admit it, but despite it being stolen and was held by Hinata's dusty hands, it was still tasty and filling. As she chewed, she shook Natsu awake.

"Natsu, did you clean the house this morning?" Natsu jumped up from her mother's lap, beaming.

"Yes I did, mom! I also did the laundry as you asked! So can I go now?" Natsu replied, a look of excitement on her face.

"Yes, you can go to Koji's house now." Natsu cheered with joy at her mother's statement, saying quick goodbyes to her and her brother before putting on her best sandals and headed out.

"I hope Koji's family pays her more this time 'round," wished Hinata.

"Well, Hinata Natsu is known for being a quick and thorough cleaner around these parts," assured Mrs Hinata. "Speaking of Koji, Shoyou, have you ever thought of joining the royal guard?" Hinata's face morphed into yet another pout.

"Mom, if I'm in the royal guard, I won't be able to take care of you and Natsu. What if you faint and neither of us are here to help you?" Mrs Hinata squeezed her son's hand gently, trying to calm him.

"Oh don't be silly, you're never home anyway. You're always running around out there. Instead of using your speed to steal pork buns, why don't you use it to help the kingdom?" Hinata wriggled his hand out of his mom's, looking uncertain.

"Mom, I don't have magic, you know this. They'll never accept me."

"And how do you know? Magic manifests differently for each person. Koji can manifest talons at his feet, Izumi can launch feathers into the air and rain them down, even your father could form wings and use them like blades. We don't know how your magic is going to be released but I know you have it in you. You-"

"Mom! Drop it!" Hinata raised his voice, something which he rarely ever did with his mother. It took a moment for him to process what he had done and for his face to turn from anger to regret. Mrs Hinata was slightly shocked but was mostly concerned for her son. Had he always had these insecurities? Was it after her husband...

Mrs Hinata could only look on from her bed as Hinata stormed out wordlessly. After hearing his rapid footsteps fade into the distance, she sighed and laid back down. Perhaps she shouldn't have pressed the issue. They were happy and content just like this after all, right?

* * *

Hinata just ran. That's all he did. That's all he ever did. That's all he could ever do. He didn't know where he was going, he just ran. He wasn't even sure why he got so agitated. It's not like what his mother said wasn't true. Magic was something you inherit, so seeing as his dad could use magic, so could he, right? So why was it that he, Hinata Shoyou, at 15 years old, still hadn't manifested even a hint of magic. It's not like he himself was wrong either, though. Every royal guard and military persons had great mastery over their powers. They would refuse you if you could only fumble around with your powers or if your magic wasn't useful in combat, so why would they accept him, a boy who doesn't even know if his powers exist. All he could do was run and jump, and that's all he'll ever do.

_**Or so that's what he thought.** _

Running aimlessly around your kingdom certainly made time fly. By the time Hinata was jumping around in his alleyway shortcut, it was night. The kingdom of Karasuno at night was certainly a sight. Oil lamps lit the roads in the capital, the streets of the common realm and the paths of the countryside; it seemed to be the one thing that was present in all parts of the kingdom no matter the status. Most people were already back in their homes, preferring not to stay out in fear of thieves like him. All the stalls in the once busy marketplace were closed, turning the streets quiet, the only sound being the wind... and Hinata's footsteps of course. In his hands, he held four more meat buns, a look of glee plastered on his face.

_I promised mom to never steal another pork bun but I never said anything about chicken buns!_

And he ran. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He was already out later than usual, of course. Natsu was probably home already, depositing her daily pay in the money jar. Hinata could only imagine her face when he brought home dinner. He looked ahead, careful not to crash into anything, lest he dropped these precious pieces of food. Needless to say, he was surprised when he saw a head full of pink hair waving to him in the distance. As it grew closer and closer, Hinata recognised the pink-haired figure as his childhood friend/acquaintance running towards him.

_Izumi?_

"Shoyou! Your house! * **huff** * Your mom! * **puff** * Fire!" was all Izumi could muster whilst trying to catch his breath. Hinata, however, dropped the chicken buns onto the ground, understanding the situation immediately.

"MOM! NATSU!" he yelled as he sprinted even faster towards their home, freed from the burden of carrying food. He could faintly hear Izumi shouting that he was going to get help from the guard post he worked at over the sounds of his own heavy breathing. His legs were screaming after running tirelessly the whole day but the adrenaline kept him going. He had to. All he had to do was run.

A glow appeared in the distance in place of the house he had just been in this morning. Around it, the air was already becoming unbreathable with the smell of smoke. Hinata put his arm over his nose and mouth and went straight in. As he got closer, he saw an armoured boy with spiky dark brown hair with magic energy talons on his feet being backed into a corner whom he recognised as Koji. He also recognised the woman lying on the ground behind the rookie guard.

"MOM! KOJI!" he yelled. The figure that was backing Koji into a corner turned to look at him. Hinata did his best to try and see through the smoke. He could see that the figure was a tall boy with dark hair parted into the two sides of his head. He was taller than Hinata, sure, but he seemed no older than him. Despite a mask covering his nose and mouth, his dull brown eyes carried an emotionless and indifferent look. The mask itself had a unique sign as well, a turquoise cloth with a lighter coloured plant pattern on it. And the sword he was carrying had a turquoise vine pattern painted across the blade.

Hinata wasted no time and let his adrenaline launch him into action, lunging forward at the mysterious arsonist. The boy, however, simply swung his sword through the air, mimicking a slicing motion, and a turquoise coloured beam in the shape of the slice shot out of it and sent Hinata flying backwards. A wound appeared on his stomach where he took the brunt of the attack, staining his tattered yellow shirt with blood. Hinata yelled out in pain as he fell on the ground.

"Shoyou!" yelled Koji as he made an attempt to kick the attacker with his talons. The boy dodged the attack, though, and countered with another magic slicing beam, which would have given Koji the same wound had he not been wearing his armour. The masked boy turned back to face Hinata, who had painfully made his way to his mom's unconscious body, hugging it tightly.

"Mom..." was all he could muster before turning his face towards the boy, a defiant look on his face. The boy's dull brown eyes remained indifferent as he raised his sword for another blow. Hinata closed his eyes, expecting the beam to slice him again at any moment, but it never came. Instead, he heard who was presumably the boy grunt in shock proceeded by two thuds, one sounding heavy and one sounding metallic. He opened his eyes to see the boy had been knocked down and had dropped his sword. Standing a ways away from them was another boy, with intimidating dark blue eyes. He was tall and his black hair was parted into the two sides of his head, just like the attacker, the only difference being he had a fringe going down the middle of his head as well. In his hands was a longbow with no arrows, held up in an attacking position. A black magic beam that resembled an arrow only made visible by the orange-tinted glow around it then began to form in the bow. He was wearing armour like Koji and Izumi, bearing the Karasuno crest of a black crow on it. The guard also appeared to be Hinata's age but had a much more menacing and serious look about him as he prepared to shoot the arsonist again.

"Kageyama Tobio of the Karasuno Royal Guard! Surrender now or face the consequences!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yea so this is the official start of this Haikyuu fantasy RPG AU, although it might just turn out to be a standard fantasy story but whatever. I'm writing this for my friend but if this has piqued your interest, then feel free to wait forever for the next update. Thank you so much for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it.


	3. Missed

_498... 499... 5- damn it! Now I have to start over!_ was what Kageyama thought when he missed the bullseye by a centimetre. And that was how he spent his days at his post out in the Karasuno countryside, hitting the target. After all, he couldn't afford to miss a single shot when- **if** an emergency arose. The snores of the other guards at his post filled the training ground, not that that bothered him, he always tuned them out when he was training. The guards who were up preferred to deal hands and attempt to gain a royal straight flush with each other. They had invited Kageyama to play with them multiple times, and every time he would just stare them down with his piercing blue glare. He would rather train, anyhow, as lonely as it could be.

_1_

_"Did you hear? That black-haired newbie got the most promising rookie award!"_

_2_

_"What the heck!? Fire them slower, damn it! You're sabotaging the operation!"_

_3_

_"Kageyama Tobio, it is unfortunate that I have to do this, but you are demoted to the post in the Yukiga fields."_

_4_

_"Take this time to learn the importance of teamwork, Kageyama. Only then can you come back to the capital."_

_5- DAMN IT!_ How was he supposed to learn teamwork if the other guards wouldn't dare come close to him or only wanted him as a gambling partner? The only two good guards in the whole post didn't have the necessary powers to help him. All they could do was create talons for their feet and launch feathers up like a mortar. What he needed was either someone with shielding powers. Or even better, a swordsman. And those two other newbies couldn't manage either of those things, so he was stuck firing his magic bolts at targets in different positions. That is all he did to pass time: stand there and practice his aim. To his credit, managing nearly 500 bullseyes in a row was no small feat, so he wasn't completely wasting his time. Kageyama just wanted **one** chance to prove he could work with a team so he could ditch this place...

"Anyone here?! A- Kageyama!! Help!! There's a burning house nearby!!" yelled the pink-haired newbie that could shoot feathers like mortar fire, Izumi, right? Kageyama was about to ignore him and tell him to call the fire department, not some deadbeat guards until it hit him.

"Is there anyone needing rescue?" asked the raven-head. Izumi nodded furiously, severely out of breath.

"Someone's attacking my friend's house! Him, his mom, and Koji are all in trouble! I think the guy can use sword magic!" he explained quickly. Kageyama's eyes lit up and slung his bow over his shoulder before making a beeline for the outpost gate.

"What are you waiting for?! This is finally an actual emergency!" he hollered excitedly. Finally! A chance for him to prove himself again so he could return to the capital. Lost in his euphoria, Kageyama could barely hear Izumi yelling that he was going to find more backup and that it was dangerous to go alone. Whatever! He was the most promising rookie, the prodigious archer mage of the Karasuno Royal Guard, he was sure he could handle an arsonist.

Izumi watched Kageyama sprint off into the distance towards the column of smoke, too exhausted to chase after him. Still, he speed-walked his way through the guardpost building in search of a decent guard. As per usual, however, all of the other experienced, if he could even call them experienced, guards were either sleeping or stuck in a game of blackjack, and he did _not_ want to disturb any of them, not after what happened to another newbie guard assigned to this post a while back. The poor lad had his green hair stink like rotten herring for a week and had to endure constant verbal abuse and was quickly transferred out. Calming down slightly, he scanned the room and saw a communications device, the one directly connected to headquarters. With his friends' lives on the line, he pressed the button.

\-------------------

"Kageyama Tobio of the Karasuno Royal Guard! Surrender now or face the consequences!" Kageyama looked intimidating and serious on the outside, but on the inside, he was giddy and glad that he was back in action. _Where had he seen that symbol?_

He fired another shot at the masked attacker, forcing him to dodge into the corner he backed Koji into earlier. _Where had he seen those colours?_

He let a third shot rip through the air, striking the mysterious boy directly in the chest, denting his armour. _Where had he seen that hairstyle?_

Kageyama noticed the orange-haired boy on the ground making a mad dash for the sword on the ground and so did the masked boy, who made a dive at him. Kageyama was quick to fire another bolt, aimed directly at the attacker's head. Before the shot could connect, a wall of vines made of turquoise magic energy suddenly rose out of thin air, nullifying the shot, saving the masked boy but also prevented him from reaching Hinata. Hinata grabbed the sword and held it out threateningly, but his winces from the slash on his stomach and his improper fighting stance only revealed his inexperience, not to mention merely holding it felt painful for some reason. Kageyama turned to see another tall armoured boy wearing a mask, the same plant pattern on its turquoise fabric. His dark hair stuck straight up, reminding Hinata of the turnips he'd seen in the market. His black eyes shot Kageyama a glare as he moved to protect his, presumably, comrade.

"Still arrogant as h"ll, huh Kageyama? Always hurting others with that stupid magic of yours!" exclaimed the 'turnip'-head boy. Hinata watched in confusion as Kageyama's eyes widened in shock. _That voice..._

Slowly, the 'turnip'-head boy removed his mask, the other one doing the same. Their faces froze Kageyama in his place. He could feel his whole body shaking, his hands no longer steady. That symbol, the colours, the hairstyles all triggered a flood of memories that forced a tear out of the corner of his eye. With a shaky voice, he spoke their names.

"K-Kindaichi? Ku-ni-Kunimi?"

"Missed us?" asked the indifferent one, Kunimi, sarcastically. Although his tone was so monotonous that the sarcasm was lost. The face of the 'turnip'-head, Kindaichi, turned from a scowl into a sneer, spreading his arms out as of he was presenting himself.

"What? Don't like the reunion? Well I'm sorry, not all of us can be PERFECT Y'KNOW!" he yelled as he lunged at Kageyama, who was too in shock to fire a bolt. Before Kindaichi could grab him, however, an orange-coloured magic slice flew in between the two boys, saving Kageyama. Kindaichi and Kunimi turned to look at Hinata, wincing and clutching at his wound, hands fidgeting around the hilt, but the matter of fact was, he swung that sword and cast that slicing beam.

"And here I thought you and your mom had no magic," muttered Kunimi as he dove straight for Hinata, grabbing on to what was supposed to be his sword. The two struggled a bit for the sword but Kunimi was obviously going to overpower the shorter, wounded boy. Despite this, Kindaichi, in the heat of the moment, moved to help Kunimi, which was a big mistake.

Kageyama came to his senses and fired a bolt at Kindaichi, hitting his shoulder point-blank and sending him flying to where Kunimi once stood. Taking a split second to try and process everything that had just happened, he quickly brushed that notion aside, deciding that rescuing the tangerine-head was more important for the time being. Clearing his mind, he shot at Kunimi, but his shaking hands betrayed him. Kunimi easily dodged the black and orange bolt, looking at Kageyama with his emotionless eyes for a moment, as if he were saying 'really? You of all people _missed_?' **It didn't miss.**

For Hinata, the second Kunimi's eyes were off of him was like a minute. He processed the situation in front of him. _Turnip-head is down, the guard misfired, Kunimi isn't looking, but he's still holding onto this sword. My hands are hurting so much right now. I'm too weak to fight him for it, he'll overpower me instantly when he catches on. So... instead of using the last of my strength to try and fight Kunimi..._

Hinata let his adrenaline and athletic instincts take over, using his remaining strength to snatch the sword out of Kunimi's hands and darted towards where the magic bolt was heading. It was like everything was moving in slow motion around him, like how he would feel every time he jumped through the cluttered alley, dashed between the market patrons, running across the fields. To him, time slowed down whenever he acted on his reflexes. Hinata slid in front of the magic bolt, a feat of speed impressive on its own, but what happened next was something he himself couldn't even process.

Clutching the sword in his hands, he held it to one side, letting a breath of air escape his mouth, and swung it at the magic bolt. Sparks of orange flew. The magic bolt turned from orange-tinted black to black with orange spirals. It grew slightly in size and **shifted directions** , heading straight for Kunimi. Kunimi felt a shock against his chest armour, eyes widened in shock. Then, he collapsed to the ground as searing pain began flowing through his chest. He screamed.

"KUNIMI! YOU BASTARD!" yelled Kindaichi, eyes seeing red. As quickly as he said that, his arms latched onto to Hinata's throat, forcing him to drop the sword. The orange-haired boy tried fighting back, but he was finished. Between the exhausting move that he pulled off with his adrenaline and the pain finally starting to take full effect in his stomach, he had nothing left. his vision began to fade, although he swore he could see a **blackish, menacing aura** coming out of the corners of Kindaichi's eyes. Kageyama positioned himself for a clean shot at Kindaichi and released his bow, but nothing fired. Being a perfectionist who insisted on having repeated bullseyes on top of doing so the whole day every day meant by the time the night rolled around, he was out of magic. Plus, in between missing his shot and seeing a random boy deflect his magic, no, **combine their magic** , everything was happening too fast and the poor archer mage's hands were shaking too heavily to land a perfect hit anyway. One of many reckless thoughts ran through his head, _should he just run and tackle Kindaichi? It was dangerous, considering neither of them are in the right states of mind right now and who knows what'll happen? Still, he couldn't just stand there and watch that boy die._ Inhaling sharply, he took a step forward.

Suddenly, another slicing beam came flying through, knocking Kindaichi off of Hinata. This one, however, was much different compared to the ones that were launched before. This one was orange-tinted grey and was much larger, longer and wider compared to the ones Hinata and Kunimi created. Not to mention, this beam was initially dragging itself through the ground, as evidenced by the large line going through the dirt, and yet somehow adjusted lengths when it got close to Hinata, shortening so as to miss him but still hit Kindaichi. Then, when it had passed Hinata's body, it reverted to its original length, so it could still hit Kindaichi as he rolled across the ground, ultimately slamming him against the wall of the burning house. Kageyama snapped out of his trance, turning to look at Kindaichi and then to the source of the much more damaging sword beam.

"C-Captain Tanaka! S-Sir!" he stammered. It seemed like ever since he joined this fight, all he could say were names. Anyway, Captain Tanaka stood there, his katana held out in all of its glory. The blade was decorated with tiny drawings of black feathers and skulls and the hilt had the Karasuno royal crest on it, not that it was visible anyway now that he was holding it. The captain himself had a nice muscular build, with a sort of buzz cut and a monstrous, angry grin that would make you ask if he was really your ally or just some thug decked in armour. Next to him was a broom hovering horizontally in mid-air, with a large crow skull attached to the tip the broom handle? _Where'd he even find a crow that large?_ Right behind him was Izumi riding on his own broomstick with no fancy additions like a giant crow skull. He held out an arm, a 'wing' of magic feathers forming. Then, he swung his arm up, and a bunch of feathers flew into the air.

Kindaichi gathered himself quickly enough to dodge the raining feathers, which would have surely finished him. He also quickly realised that the situation was no longer in their favour and ran to help Kunimi up. Slinging him over his shoulder, Kindaichi was almost too late in stopping both a now awake Koji's kick and another slice from Tanaka, but he managed to shoot his wall of vines up, knocking Koji away and shielding them from the beam, allowing them to escape.

"We'll see each other again someday, Kageyama! And next time, I'll be sure to kill you!" He yelled before disappearing into the surrounding woods. Izumi was all ready to give chase but Tanaka stopped him.

"Helping the injured should be your top priority, newbie."

"Izumi! Shoyou held the sword!" exclaimed Koji, who was helping Hinata's mom up. Tanaka tensed up upon hearing this.

"The kid held a Seijoh sword?! Sh*t! WE NEED TO TAKE HIM TO THE ROYAL INFIRMARY NOW!" He commanded. Kageyama went over and took a good look at the now unconscious Hinata as he picked him up. Turquoise lines that started from his wrist were spreading slowly up his arm, glowing faintly, making Kageyama flinch. _That was a sight he didn't expect to see again so soon._

"Sir, permission to leave? I need to go check on Natsu, the boy's sister! She's at Koji's house!" exclaimed Izumi. After Tanaka gave him the clear, the group split up to go off in their respective directions. Though, throughout the flight, Tanaka couldn't shake the heavy feeling from his stomach.

_Seijoh soldiers? Then that means_ **_that_ ** _thing is nearly at our doorstep! I need to alert Daichi!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I'm not good at writing action? This was so fast-paced that I felt like I was on a rollercoaster while writing but I honestly don't have that much else to add that wouldn't be more repetition. So, either way, thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoy it!


	4. Dreams

_The marketplace quickly emptied when they heard the yelling. Every vendor stayed behind their stall and some even pushed them back to accommodate the squeezing crowd. Hinata didn't understand and didn't budge at first. And then he saw it. The fierce battle between a soldier with messy black hair in Karasuno guard armour and a blond man in armour made of jungle green magical energy covering the plain clothing underneath._

_"Step aside everyone!" the guard yelled as he parried the man's wooden staff with his sword and forced the man back. The staff was a long branch whose tip was curled around an emerald, kind of like a snake, and was oozing a sort of gross green liquid magic that had corroded a hole in the guard's armour. The unknown man held out the staff, firing a yellow-tinted jungle green magic bolt that would've probably shot right through the guard had he not been prepared._

_Hinata felt a breeze blow through his hair as the guard swung his sword and deflected the magic bolt. The bolt shrunk slightly in size and turned from jungle green to black, and shattered through the man's magic armour and hit him in the chest. The weaker deflected bolt knocked the man unconscious, leaving the strength of the original bolt to the imagination and what would've happened to the guard if he failed to deflect it. As the guard put the man in cuffs and began to leave with him, he waved goodbye to the citizens, thanking them for their cooperation._

_"As expected from the little giant!"_

_"He's not Karasuno's best general for nothing!"_

_Seeing this sequence play out in front of him, Hinata felt a sort of warm fire burning in him, but he shrugged it off as the sheer excitement. After all, he had no magic, right?_

_**Suddenly, his veins began swelling with black and orange energy. Hinata began to panic and screamed as the energy reached his head and light burst out of his eyes.** _

Hinata woke up in a cold sweat, feeling intense pain in his wrist. He found himself lying in a small, comfortable white bed in a small room, the bland stone walls dimly lit by torches on the wall. His right hand was heavily bandaged and soaked in a strange purple liquid. He could feel the stiffness from the bandages wrapped around his stomach despite them being underneath the plain white garments he was wearing. And he felt heavy in the head as if he was going to pass out again soon. Before he could, though, a petite young blonde with a bright blue star hair clip that held up a left side ponytail entered the room. She was wearing a white dress with a red cross on her left sleeve and the Karasuno crest on her right, and by the way that she slouched and held her head down low, plus the anxious look in her brown eyes inferred that she was nervous. That nervousness did not disappear when she saw that Hinata had awoken as she jumped and yelped at the sight.

"Ah! Gosh, you scared me! I mean, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were awake! I'll go get the medic! Wait, I mean I am the medic! I mean-" she quickly cut herself off and began closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. Hinata watched her trying to calm herself, tilting his head slightly sideways in confusion. Watching this girl give herself a minor breakdown made his headache the least of his worries, not to mention it was kind of amusing.

"Hello, I see that you're awake after sleeping for a full day. I'm Yachi Hitoka, your attending medic. I will now be checking your status," she introduced, gaining her composure. Although, at some points, it felt like she was trying to convince herself that that was what she was going to do rather than inform him as her patient. She was nice, she gave him a cup of water which he so desperately needed for his hoarse throat, and was gentle when moving his injured hand. As she was unwrapping his bandages and checking on his wrist, her hands were shaking and Hinata could feel that she was still quite nervous, so he decided to try to start idle chatter

"You seem quite young to be someone's attending medic. Like, you look around my age," Hinata remarked, trying to calm her.

"I... I started young. Like, around... eight? Maybe? I forget. But at this rate, it's all I've ever known. I've got a decent amount of experience I guess? Plus, this is my first time as an attending medic anyway- wait, that didn't help your confidence in me, did it? Gosh, I'm so dumb! I-" 

"No no no! Don't worry! I don't really feel pain in my stomach anymore so you must've done a good job!" Hinata assured her, flashing his precious smile, making her blush slightly. Although, he couldn't help but feel he was forgetting something...

"Uh, thanks. My mom's actually the health minister so I've got pretty big shoes to fill and I just hope I don't disappoint her and- that isn't something you want to hear, is it?" Yachi cut herself off again, mentally slapping herself and stayed silent as she rewrapped the bandages. Hinata smiled, but it soon turned into a frown as his eyes widened.

"Wait! That's right, mom! Where's mom!? Where's Natsu?! Koji! Izumi! Those other guards! What happened to them?!" asked Hinata frantically, beginning to panic and break out in a sweat. Unfortunately, seeing him panic made Yachi start to panic as well.

"U-Uh! Uh! I don't know! I'm just your medic! I don't know who you're talking about! Wait, mom?! Your mom... probably the orange-haired lady that came in as well! Um! She's doing fine! I think! I hope! I don't know! I'm not her medic! Gah! She could be dying- wait! That's not what I meant! GOD I'M SO STUPID!" she yelled. And that was how it was in that room for a while: two short teens with brightly coloured hair panicking and yelling.

Just then, a little orange-haired girl with pigtails appeared in front of an armoured pink-haired boy. Tears began forming in Natsu's eyes until she couldn't hold them in any longer.

"SHOYOU!!!" 

"NATSU!!!"

Natsu jumped up on the side of Hinata's bed opposite to where Yachi was working and gave her brother a much-needed hug. 

"Shoyou! I'm so glad you're okay! I was worried sick ya know!" said Izumi, who was also on the verge of tears as he walked up to Hinata's bed.

"Izumi! I can't thank you enough! If you hadn't come running, I might've been too late! Plus, you saved me by getting help! Y-you saved me!" Hinata exclaimed, crying as well. Suddenly, a boy with spiky black hair burst in, wearing a white patient's garments as well.

"Shoyou!'

"Koji! I- I don't know how I can repay you for saving my mom! T-Thank you for defending her as long as you did!" Hinata said in between sobs. Koji merely walked up to him and punched him lightly in the shoulder, crying.

"Stupid Shoyou! Rushing into danger without thinking! D-Don't e- eber doo dat again! You hear me?!" he exclaimed, now bawling his eyes out. And just like that, everyone in the room began crying their eyes out, even Yachi, who didn't know exactly why she was crying but everyone else crying made her want to cry too, so she did. That's just what happens when you put five precious babies in one room, you know?

Boy was that one heck of a scene for Tanaka to see. His face was priceless. The thug-looking captain didn't know what to think, only that him entering stopped the five from crying within an instant when they saw him.

"Captain Tanaka! Sir!" exclaimed Koji, Izumi and Yachi, all three of them saluting. Tanaka saluted back, making a remark on how he decided to check on the tangerine boy when he heard screaming and crying from his room before inquiring about Hinata's situation. Yachi fumbled with her notes for a moment before getting them together.

"Sir! The patient Hinata Shoyou has made an excellent recovery! The wound on his abdomen has mostly healed although it has left a faint scar! As for the poison that was spreading through his arm, it has been fully cured after soaking his wrist in antidote! After that, there are no more major issues, sir!" reported Yachi, saluting at the end. Hinata looked up at her, confused.

"Poison?!" 

"Oh, you see, Seijoh swords-" Yachi began before being cut off by Tanaka, who gestured for them to wait, which they both heeded.

"Alright, thank you, Ms Yachi," 

"Thank you, sir!"

And Ms Yachi, you don't need to give a medical report like you're giving me a patrol report. You're not a guard. A plain report will do."

"Sir, yes sir!"

"And also, you can put your hand down, you're not a soldier."

"Sir, yes sir!" she said, putting her hand down. Tanaka sighed, choosing not to mention that she didn't need to use that tone with him because again, she wasn't a guard. He then turned to Hinata.

"Hinata Shoyou?"

"Um, yes sir. But please, just call me Hinata."

"Well then, Hinata, first thing s first, I'd like to inform you that your mother's condition is stable. According to her attending medic, it's a miracle she's survived the attack due to her heart condition. However, she won't be waking up for a while due to the stress on her already weak body." Hinata felt a wave of sadness overcome his own heart, hugging Natsu tightly. _Won't be awake for a while? So when will she wake up? This is all my fault! If I didn't storm out maybe I could've- What now? What about Natsu? I... I have to step up and take care of her... but... mom... mom..._

A brief, solemn silence filled the room, tears rolling down Hinata's cheeks. Tanaka had an apologetic look on his face.

"Moving on, I've already received reports from your two friends here and the other guard on the scene, Kageyama. From what I can tell, Koji and Izumi were walking Natsu home before they saw the Seijoh guy burning your house while your mother was on the ground. They told Natsu to go back to Koji's house before engaging, Koji distracting him while Izumi went to get back up. That's when he ran into you," recounted Tanaka. Hinata wiped away his tears and shivered while nodding, Koji and Izumi squeezed his hands gently in assurance.

"Then, you charged headfirst into a dangerous situation with no plan which resulted in you getting wounded before Kageyama arrived, am I correct?" Hinata could only nod his head in shame. It was then that Tanaka slowly started walking closer to him, appearing mildly threatening, forcing everyone else, including Yachi and Natsu, to back away. Hinata gulped hard, shaking as he watched the captain's two menacing, sharp blue-grey eyes grow closer and closer, piercing a hole through his soul.

"Do you acknowledge that you could've potentially gotten in the way of a guard in action, and could've also very well gotten yourself killed, thus making your actions reckless and obstructive?" He asked in a low, threatening voice. 

"S-S-Sir, y-yes sir..." he replied softly. Sure, Koji was getting his butt kicked and would've probably gotten killed had he not intervened, but the captain had a point, charging in only opened the possibility of them all getting killed. 

"And do you swear not to do anything that reckless and impulsive ever again?"

"Y-y-yes, sir..." Tanaka stared at him menacingly for a few more seconds before morphing into a satisfied smile.

"Alright! Now with that out of the way, it's time to get to the meat!" exclaimed Tanaka, "in Kageyama's report, he mentioned you using magic, is this true?"

"Y-Yes? At least, I think so? Those things I was doing with the sword... was magic?"

"Mhm, which would mean you're a melee class swordsman! Which is totally the best class, by the way, not saying that because I'm a melee class and a swordsman myself but you know, just putting that out there-"

"Wait wait wait! Melee... class? Swordsman? What are you saying... um, sir?" asked Hinata, crows flying above his tilted head.

"Ah, you see... hold on a minute..." Tanaka paused, appearing deep in thought. "Tell you what? I'll tell ya all about the different classes, techniques and anything else you want answers to..." 

Tanaka inched his face closed to Hinata's, disturbing him slightly, no, majorly. What was he going to say? What was he going to make him do? What-

"... if... you join the royal guard."

Sometimes, silence can be the most deafening sound in the room. Koji, Izumi and Yachi looked on, their jaws dropping to the floor. Natsu looked extremely confused. Hinata... stayed there, frozen. 

_This is a dream. This has to be a dream. I'm gonna wake up soon, lying in bed, mom and Natsu beside me wondering why I haven't gone out to steal pork buns- I mean chicken buns. All of this never happened. No one ever attacked us. I'm at home, not in some stuffy room being attended to by an anxious medic. There was no fire. Mom's perfectly fine and awake. I have no magic. This will all end soon..._

"So? You in or you in?" Tanaka asked again, clearly expecting a positive answer, a devilish grin on his face. Hinata blinked. His lips were stiff, and yet somehow, he managed to force some words out.

"... This... isn't a dream?" Tanaka pinched himself in the arm and then did the same for Hinata.

"Last I checked, nope! As the acting commander of the Karasuno military and the captain of the guard, I, Tanaka Ryunosuke, am formally inviting you to join the ranks of the Karasuno Royal Guard!" He extended his hand out in invitation. Hinata remained still. While his brain couldn't really process what was happening, it seemed his body could, because his good hand began to reach out slowly.

_I can join the royal guard?_

His brain caught up to what was happening and he dropped his hand, surprising Tanaka.

"I-I'm sorry sir, but I can't. With my mom... I don't think I could handle protecting the kingdom while also raising Natsu. I'm gonna have to de-"

"My family and I can look after her! She's in our house most of the time anyway! She can stay with us!" Koji offered, raising his hand.

"My family and I can help too!" Izumi offered as well, ruffling Natsu's fluffy orange hair, much to the little girl's delight, making Hinata sigh.

"That's nice of you guys but-"

"Well, then that's settled! Your sister is in good hands!" Tanaka interjected, making a mental note to award the two rookie guards later.

"Well, okay, but there's still my mom-"

"Did I mention members of the royal guard get a significant discount for relatives staying long term in the Royal Infirmary, where the medics work around the clock to take care of their patients? Ms Yachi here can assure your mom is in good hands, right Ms Yachi?" asked Tanaka, flashing a confident smile at Yachi.

"Uh, uh, uh... sure! Yes! Right! I can arrange for her stay here right away!" exclaimed Yachi, about to rush out the door. Tanaka ordered Izumi to stop her before she could, though.

"... Even with all of that... my magic... I... never thought I'd have magic. I... I've never used a single magic spell all of my life until now so- I don't think I'm cut out for this..." The room fell quiet once again, Tanaka stuck trying to come up with a response.

"Have you ever heard of... the little giant?" he asked.

"... The little giant? Who hasn't? He was the best warrior and general the kingdom had ever seen."

"Did you know he hadn't cast a single spell until he was eighteen?"

_What? Until he was eighteen? THE little giant? Really?!_

"That can't be right-"

"Oh, trust me, ask anyone who was in the guard at the time and they will tell you, he was the oldest one among the rookies that year. And yet, through his grit and hard work, well, the rest is literally history..." Tanaka said, looking all smug and proud of himself. "Plus, if what Kageyama says is true... you might be one of the more valuable soldiers we can have..."

"Wait, what did the Kageyama guy say?"

"I'll only tell you if you join!" Tanaka replied quickly, once again extending his hand out.

_"Instead of using your speed to steal pork buns, why don't you use it to help the kingdom?"_ His mother's words echoed through Hinata's mind. He looked over at his sister and friends who were all looking on in eager anticipation of his answer. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he paused, **and then he reached out and shook Tanaka's hand,**

"I'll do it. I'll join."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just like that, the pacing is all over the place! Finally, Hinata's in, but there are still so many questions left unanswered. This is totally not me realising realistic pacing is not the best option sometimes for a story like this but hey, I deal with my own mistakes. Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it.


	5. Torches

Takeda Ittetsu sat at his desk, stacks upon stacks of paperwork waiting for him. The secretary-general was currently fixated on the report that was given to him by Tanaka, who had simply dropped it off in a hurry. The report detailed two soldiers from Seijoh burning a lowly peasants' house before being beaten back by the captain along with some rookies. Several things stood out to him. Why would they choose to attack a peasant's house? Why send only two soldiers? And the infamously difficult and stubborn rookie, Kageyama Tobio, actually combining magic with someone? One thing was for sure, this was no small incident.

Takeda held the report firmly in his hands, arriving at the king's study and was met by the press secretary Shimizu Kiyoko herself.

"Good evening, Miss Shimizu," he greeted as he bowed.

"Good evening to you too, sir."

"Is his majesty in? I need to see him."

"He just left the palace after speaking to me, why?"

"Oh! I see... then, could you tell me where he is? It's urgent," requested Takeda. However, Kiyoko responded with an 'I don't know', making him worried. He needed to get this report to the king because of the first thing that stood out to him from the report. Written in jet black ink on the parchment in his hands was ' _We have reason to believe that_ ** _that dark entity_** _has arrived in the Miyagi region._ '

* * *

"Now, to officially become a royal guard, you gotta pass initiation," Tanaka explained, walking beside Hinata, currently touring the Karasuno Royal Guard Headquarters. It was a massive building positioned at a 5-minute walk away from the Royal Infirmary and a 15-minute walk away from the royal palace, Kuroi Hane, the travelling time made shorter by broom.

Hinata marvelled at the chance to see the capital from the inside. All the government buildings sported the same general design: sturdy stone walls painted various shades of orange, with supporting pillars of black marble and roofs of shiny black tiles. The Royal Guard HQ had extra external decorations such as a large carving of the Karasuno Royal crest welcoming all who came through the front gates and an intimidating mural of a large murder of crows on its walls. Inside the building was a whole other story. The stone brick walls lined every corridor and chamber, torches illuminating the way.

"We've been trying to get the new oil lanterns to replace these stupid torches that... well, do this," Tanaka complained, blowing out a torch in a demonstration. Hinata began to question the varying quality of the building, having such a beautiful and highly maintained exterior, and yet inside the captain was complaining about the lagging technology? Those 'new' oil lanterns lined the streets outside a year ago, so why didn't a government building still have torches?

They passed by the HQ's hall of fame, a large, long hall with giant portraits of the famous generals through the years. Any questions in Hinata's mind were immediately swept aside to fully admire the portraits, the boy letting out many loud 'GUWAHHH's.

**Ukai Ikkei, the fearless raven.** _So he's the one who won a lot of battles for the kingdom!_ _He looks so awesome! I heard he even beat Shiratari- Shiritori- Shi- Sh- nevermind!_

**Udai Tenma, the little giant.** _Wait! It's the general from the marketplace! All those years ago! AHHHHHH! He looks so amazing!_

**Sawamura Daichi, the enduring.** "Wow! He looks so young!" Hinata said out loud. Tanaka chuckled.

"He's the current king, d'you know that?"

"GUWAHHHHH! HE'S THE KING AT ONLY 24?! THAT'S SO COOL!"

**A-u---- -s-h-, the ------ -----.** _Huh?_

"Sir? Why is this portrait all... dirty?" Tanaka remained silent for a while, staring solemnly at the painting he pointed out.

"It's not dirty, it's practically destroyed. One of our guards... had an accident involving a torch," he replied, muttering under his breath.

"Woah, that guard must've gotten a huge punishment."

"Yea, he's in exile, or, was in exile. He was supposed to come back last month but... it's like he subjected himself to self-imposed exile..." Hinata tried pressing him with more questions, only to be met by a stern order to drop the subject. The rest of the walk through the gallery was shrouded in awkward silence. That is until they reached the training grounds.

"GUWAHHHHHHH!!!"

The training grounds were expansive, vibrant and lively. Closest to them was a dirt patch with sparring dummies, swordsmen slashing them with their conjured magic beams. Hinata watched as one of the dummies magically repaired themselves as if the beam had never hit them at all, stars in his eyes.

"Pretty cool, huh? Those things were invented by our crown prince, lowered the maintenance cost of this place by a ton!"

Seeing the swords, Hinata briefly flashed back to that night, the feeling of the sword still burning his hands. _Speaking of which..._

"Sir, what was going on with my arms? Ms Yachi said it was... poison?"

"Ah, that... I'll tell you after your initiation!" Tanaka said, cackling devilishly. Hinata scrunched his face but chose to continue focusing on the training area. Slightly further away in the dirt patch were several rectangular areas marked by firm lines in the dirt where guards could spar against each other. Hinata watched as one swordsman cut down a guard using... shielding powers? The guard in question had a whole curtain of black feathers in front of her, but the curtain was shattered and she took a direct hit. Hinata instinctively stepped forward to help but saw the guard getting back up without a sweat, high-fiving her sparring partner.

_You can control how intense the beams can be?_ thought Hinata. _I wonder if I can do that..._

"You're gonna need to know the basics of classes for your initiation, and this tour is gonna do just that!" announced Tanaka, making Hinata jump up and down in excitement. The captain chuckled.

"Alright, for the basic rundown. Any person born with magic is also born into one of the combat classes, and you can only do things within that class. If you're born into the **melee class** , you can do all the fancy things with the sword, but you won't be able to fire magic bolts from a staff, because that's what the ranged class does," he began. Hinata squinted his eyes and perked up his ears, doing his best to keep up with the explanation.

"Some people, like your spiky-haired friend Koji, manifest magic differently, though, like his talons. So while he's still a melee class, the talons are all he's got. We call them **unique cases**." Hinata could feel his head swimming with the info dump but managed to process the general gist. You are born into a class, and there are common and unique forms of that class.

Walking past the dirt area and down the slop, yes, the HQ's training grounds extended beyond the hill the building was built on, the two walked through a large flat field of short green grass. The field itself was surrounded by a sizeable wall of trees that enclosed it away from the rest of the capital. A large, wide path ran through the middle of the field, separating it in half.

On one side, guards with staffs and crossbows shot repeatedly at more self-repairing dummies, these ones with targets painted on their body area and their head area. The ones with staffs shot magic bolts that were sluggish but strong, ripping holes in the dummies. The ones with the crossbows shot bolts that flew quickly through the air and embedded themselves in the dummies, but the holes that were left behind were shallow and not all that impressive.

"Those are guards in the **range class**. Their name says it all. In fact, your other friend, Izumi, is in this class, with the ranged mortar shots and everything. With this class, even the slow bolts can be hard to dodge if not paying attention because they're so slender, compared to our large, obvious slashing beams. _Ahem_ but melee is still the best class! _Ahem_ ," explained Tanaka, 'coughing' the last part. Hinata couldn't help but wonder about that Kageyama guard. _But he was using a longbow, not a crossbow, so was he a unique case?_

Opposite to the range class training grounds, there were cannon-like machines firing magic bolts repeatedly at the training guards. These guards seemed to be summoning full wings or curtains of feathers on their arms that completely negated the shots. Some even had magical energy armour on, the magic helmet complete with a see-through energy beak.

"The **defender class**. Their main goal is to negate any and all incoming bolts and slashes. They also do decently against physical weapons, but they're still often paired with actual armour, as well as a nice and light sword if they're forced to do melee. But they can't use those swords to cast sword beams, they're stuck with their defender class, _which is why the melee class is the best class_ \- I mean whaaaattttt... I didn't say anything," said Tanaka, whistling off to the side and playing with his fingers. Hinata giggled lightly at the captain's antics.

They approached the area right next to the defender class, where more machines were firing bolts. This time, however, the guards were bending low, kneeling down, and even diving, summoning magic energy braces and gauntlets on their hands and even feet! When the bolts hit these magical accessories, they bounced right off, reflecting away from the training guards.

"The **reflector class** , or as I like to call them, the 'no u' class! As you can see, this class focuses on sending whatever magic projectile right back at their opponent. The zone they have to hit in order to reflect the shot is small, though. And since they rely on mobility, we can't clad them in heavy armour, so these guys need to stay extremely focused and train their instincts to detect the shots as they come. But their main weakness is that they can't do anything until an enemy attacks."

_Reflecting the shots, huh?_ Hinata went back to that night, thinking about how he technically had reflected that Kageyama's bolt.

"Wait, but I remember reflecting a shot with my sword, doesn't that just mean I'm a unique case of this class instead? But wait, I wouldn't be able to cast sword beams then..."

"Ah! That! Yup! Us swordsman can coat our swords in magic energy and reflect shots! WHICH IS WHY WE'RE THE BEST CLASS! ... _But_... and it pains me to admit it, shots that bounce off of a reflector class fly further and sometimes faster than it originally did. Unless it's magic from the same kingdom, sword deflection only makes the shots weaker, so really, these guys are the masters of giving the punks a taste of their own medicine!"

"Wait... different kingdoms have different magic?" Hinata asked.

Before Tanaka could explain, the two felt the ground beneath them shake, the sound of thunderous yells slowly growing louder and louder. Tanaka quickly grabbed Hinata and moved them both aside into the reflector class area. Hinata felt his insides turn and his eyes pop out when several guards on brooms flew past them, magical lances in their hands. In the brief second that they passed them, Hinata saw them clad in physical armour bearing the Karasuno crest, and that's all he could make out. Once Tanaka made sure the tangerine boy wasn't going to get carried away in the wind and dust, he began his explanation.

"The final class, the **cavalry class**. Their sole purpose is to charge into enemy formations and mess them up, so they usually attack first. They're fast, nimble and deadly if they get a clean hit with their lance. And also..." Tanaka pointed towards the cavalry class guards as their brooms reached the hill. Hinata stared as they rode up the slope before flying straight up into the air and readjusting themselves, soaring through the sky, he didn't want to miss a thing after all.

"They're the cornerstone of any nation's aerial force, messing up formations and making openings for the range class to shoot at. So while anyone with magic can fly on a broom, the cavalry class are the only ones who can touch the skies! If there's any class that'll give the swordsman a run for their money, it's the cavalry class!" admitted Tanaka, a hand on the back of his head.

_So that's what this big path is for! WOW! SO COOL!_ thought Hinata, watching the guards return to their area next to the range class area, parking their brooms and chatting. As they began walking towards the end of the training grounds, the sun finally set behind the wall of trees, shrouding the grounds in an atmosphere of dark blue. Crickets began singing when they saw the beautiful crescent moon hang above the HQ building. Guards began running around, lighting the torches to illuminate their training areas. Then, they went back to training, some guards deciding to head back into the HQ building and even head home to call it a day. Once the dark blue sky turned fully black, the training grounds' population had been more than halved, leaving only a few souls per area still training.

Hinata turned to look at Tanaka, the captain having a sad and shameful look on his face.

"And this is why we're stuck with torches. No one ever bothers to stay and train through the night, which is understandable... but that's also why our military is so weak right now. We've gone from a powerhouse nation in the Miyagi region to just an average little kingdom. We're not the weakest, but we're nowhere near the strongest either, not anymore." Tanaka clenched his fists and bit his lips, earning a concerned and sympathetic look from Hinata.

"We've been losing battles left, right and centre for the last two years, and a lot of the guards have just... given up. They still train and defend the kingdom but no one's ever bothered putting in more effort than necessary. Because we're such pushovers militarily, no other kingdom's been open to trade nor alliances... not to mention... _that thing_..." Question marks floated around Hinata's head when he heard that. _What thing?_

"BUT EVEN SO! THE KING, THE COUNCIL, AND I HAVE BEEN DOING OUR BEST TO IMPROVE THINGS! ...But if things continue like this... we could be wiped out in less than 20 years... all the other kingdoms are just so strong..." Tanaka hung his head low, tears threatening to spill. Hinata remained silent, processing everything. _The kingdom's in trouble..._

"THEN I'LL HELP! I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I'LL END UP DOING! I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I'LL SURVIVE! BUT I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU ASK ME TO DO TO HELP!" yelled Hinata, attracting the attention of the few guards in the surrounding area. Tanaka was startled at first before his frown morphed into a wide smile.

"Now that's the spirit of a true guard! I like that, Hinata! Now, let's put that spirit to good use, shall we?" exclaimed Tanaka, patting Hinata on the back. He led them to the end of the training grounds, two large areas marked by white-painted grass.

"These are the team battlegrounds. As the name suggests, these two patches of land are used for simulating team battles, because on the real battlefield, you're more often than not in a team. It's here that we're gonna hold your initiation," Tanaka announced. Hinata gave a loud 'GUWAH' before a certain raven-head caught his attention. Patiently waiting inside the area, drawing and firing his longbow at a tree was none other than Hinata's saviour, Kageyama Tobio.

Kageyama didn't even notice the two were standing there until Tanaka cleared his throat loudly. The raven-haired boy turned back and for a brief second, his eyes seemed to light up when they gazed upon a certain tangerine boy.

_It's him. The guy who deflected my shots..._

"Oh! Oh my gosh! It's you! Kageyama Tobio of the royal guard!" Hinata said, chuckling. "I still haven't thanked you, so, I guess... hello. I'm Hinata Shoyou. Thank you so much! You saved my life that night! I owe you so much!"

_His smile is so wide. And so bright. It's kinda cute- wait! No! What am I thinking!? Get a grip on yourself, Tobio!_

Kageyama put on a calm and indifferent face, looking away from the orange-haired boy.

"Don't thank me. I was just doing my job. Also, didn't your parents ever teach you not to rush into danger, you low-class dumbass?" he scolded. Hinata's face fell, his bright smile replaced by a frown.

"... My mom's in the infirmary... and my dad's... gone..." Tears began to roll down Hinata's face and he anxiously started trying to wipe them away.

"Hey! What was that for?! Kageyama!! I let you stay in the capital because of this little guy and this is how you treat him?! You wanna fight me?!" exclaimed Tanaka, his hand over his sword. Kageyama remained indifferent and stoic on the outside, but on the inside, he was drowning in regret.

_CRAP! I DIDN'T MEAN TO- I- CRAP! I-_ Just as Kageyama was about to apologise, someone interjected.

"Ah~ Is the 'king' making someone cry again? Typical," said an approaching tall blond. Standing at 190 cm tall, the boy had glasses and a smug and condescending look on his face. He had guard armour on and his hand on his hips, snickering, something that ticked Kageyama off.

Hiding sort of behind the tall blond boy was a shorter, but still tall, boy with dark greyish green hair with a flyaway piece of hair sticking up, a broom hovering beside him. His face was decorated with freckles and a curious look. He too wore armour, but he seemed to be swimming in it like his body was too scrawny for the bulky hunk of metal. Upon seeing the raven-head, he started snickering too.

"Hehe, nice one Tsukki!" he said. Kageyama plastered a nasty scowl on his face and clenched his fists.

"Hey. Don't call me that," he responded, his voice menacing and low, scaring Hinata out of his tears. Tanaka remained still.

"Oh? And what are you gonna do about it, king? Sabotage a mission?" replied 'Tsukki', getting up and close to Kageyama's face. The two began having a staredown until a firm and authoritative voice interrupted them.

"Excuse me? There is only one man that has the title of 'king' in this country. Anyone who says otherwise is committing treason." The owner of the voice, a man with short dark hair and a decent build, was descending upon them on a normal, bland broom. He was also dressed in a bland white shirt and a black pair of pants. Needless to say, everyone was confused as to why a booming voice was coming from someone looking like that, finding it completely out of place. Well, everyone except Tanaka, who stood there wide-eyed.

"Um, who is that?" asked Hinata. Tanaka immediately knelt down on his knee in reverence, pushing Hinata down to do the same.

"Good evening, Dai- your majesty!" Tanaka proclaimed loudly for the whole area to hear. Sounds of shock echoed across the field before everyone got on their knees, loud cheers roaring into the night sky. Daichi held up his hand, a warm and gentle smile plastered on his face.

"Now, now. Relax. All of you may stand. I am just here for... an initiation, was it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof! This is the exposition chapter where I finally dive deeper into the battle system. Next chap will be Hinata's initiation, so more combat system jargon! Yay! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading it!


	6. Initiation

_Wait, initiation? Does someone else here have an initiation? Ooh! Is it Captain Tanaka?! Wait! No! He's already a captain! But... who else is getting initiated that the king himself had to come?!_ Such were the thoughts flying through Hinata's head. He looked around the field, trying to spot anyone whom the king could be referring to. But everyone else kept looking at each other, confused and curious like him. King Daichi let out a hearty chuckle, helping Tanaka silence the crowd.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Dai- your majesty! We are ready to commence at your order!" Tanaka exclaimed loudly. Daichi patted him on the shoulder.

"Then let's begin, shall we?"

"Yes, your majesty! Tsukishima! Yamaguchi! To the team combat field, now!" The blond 'Tsukki', whose full name was apparently Tsukishima, and the freckled one, presumably Yamaguchi, gave a loud 'sir, yes sir'. Although, Tsukishima looked less than enthusiastic, his salute much softer and monotone than his friend. The captain seemed ready to beat Tsukishima up, but the king paid no mind, so he did too, glaring as the two made their way to the battleground.

"Kageyama, you too!" Tanaka ordered. A brief look of doubt flashed in Kageyama's eyes, but he quickly put on a scowl and made his way to the battleground too.

"Woah... whoever's getting initiated sure is lucky. Kageyama seems like he could be a strong teammate or opponent. And I'm sure the other two are strong as well! I'd be so happy to fight them..." marvelled Hinata. Daichi looked at him amused and Tanaka chuckled loudly, confusing Hinata.

"Then I'm sure you'll be happy to know that the one getting initiated is you! Remember? We talked about it earlier today," Tanaka revealed, prompting multiple gasps and murmurs from the crowd. Hinata's world stopped, a 'crow' flying over his head.

"I am looking forward to seeing your abilities, Hinata Shoyou. Give it your all!" said Daichi before heading to the combat field. Hinata's brain was still short-circuiting, letting the comment fly past him. The guards around him were chatting up a storm now, the noise filling the night sky.

"Who's he? Why did the king himself have to come here to initiate him?"

"He is like, the shortest person here! What can he even do?"

"Oh man, I feel bad for the shrimp. He's on the field with the king, the captain, a talented defender and a 'best rookie of the year' award winner! Unless he has some world-ending magic, he stands no chance!"

All of the chatter and gossip managed to reconnect Hinata's brain, and he finally processed the fact that his initiation was beginning. Now. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards the captain.

"Sir! What do I need to do?"

"Haha, I see you're finally ready! Come with me, I'll explain the rules later!"

* * *

Lady Shimizu had just arrived at the training grounds trying to locate the king when she heard thunderous noises coming from the end of the field. Deducing that that was probably where the king was, she made haste.

"Alright! This initiation battle shall be a 3-on-3! The rules are simple! Either knock your opponent unconscious or out of bounds or make them admit defeat! Once all three of your opponents are down, you win!" Tanaka announced, receiving rounds upon rounds of applause. "The teams will be me, Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyou! Our opponents shall be Tsukishima Kei, Yamaguchi Tadashi, and his majesty King Sawamura Daichi!"

"W-What?! B-but that's not fair! You guys have two swordsmen and a talented archer mage! I-I'm just a weak cavalry class! What-" Yamaguchi stammered, sweat rolling down his head.

"Shut up Yamaguchi. We literally have the king on our side," chided Tsukishima.

"S-sorry Tsukki!"

"No need to panic, young one. Do your best and your efforts won't betray you! I will not hold back," assured Daichi. He then turned towards the opposing team, "That goes for you three as well! Hinata Shoyou, do not hold back! I am here tonight not as your king, but as an opponent standing in the way of your initiation! Show everyone here the full extent of your abilities!" 

At that, the crowd once again erupted into cheers and applause, praising the young king.

_God! The king is so passionate and inspiring! I hope I can be like him someday!_ thought Hinata, gulping. His blood was racing, his heart beating at a mile a minute. He gripped tightly onto the hilt of the sword Tanaka gave him but the sweat on his palms threatened to make him drop it any second. He turned to face Tanaka. He had an aggressive and evil smile on his face as if he were a demon waiting to maul his victims. He turned to Kageyama, who had a cold scowl on his face, readying his longbow. Hinata took a split second to admire the sapphire adorning it. 

He looked over at his opponents. The king was standing proud and strong, his sword held out in striking position. It was a beautiful broadsword with a simple black gemstone on its wide golden hilt, and yet orange and black sparks of magic flew off of the blade, showing its power. Tsukishima, although standing at the ready, had an indifferent look on his face, much like Kageyama before. The only difference is that he genuinely looked uninterested in the fight, only occasionally sneaking glances at Yamaguchi, who was trembling as he got on his broom. Poor boy's hand was shaking even as he held out his magic lance. 

_This is it, Shoyou. This is the fight that's gonna get you in the Karasuno Royal Guard! I can do this! I can-_

"Hinata! Look out!!" yelled Tanaka, sending a large, horizontal grey slash from his sword right towards Hinata, knocking him out of the way of the much larger black, almost wispy slashing beam.

_Huh, Captain Tanaka's beam doesn't hurt... so you can control the power of the beam to the point where it's painless? THAT'S SO COOL!!_

Hinata fell onto the ground as the black wispy slash passed right in front of his face before completely severing an innocent tree in half down the trunk. Daichi was still in attack position by the time the slash did its job.

_Woah... that slash looked so light... and gentle... BUT SO DEADLY!? THE KING IS AWESOME!!_

While Hinata was still awestruck by the display of skill that had occurred in just seconds, Tanaka was already sending another slash at Daichi, who blocked him with his own slash. The captain and the king went at each other with repeated parries. Each time Tanaka took a step forward after attacking, Daichi would take a step back to defend, then immediately send a counterattack which would prompt Tanaka to move a step back again. Meanwhile, Hinata had to keep dodging the slashes that missed, witnessing a lot of plant life suffer the brunt of them.

With the two most experienced fighters on the field caught in a stalemate at each other, Kageyama was having a heated showdown with Tsukishima. Gritting his teeth, the archer mage sent bolt after bolt of black at Tsukishima. Each bolt was easily nullified by the large, black wings that served as shields. Tsukishima looked like he was about to evolve into an actual crow because the wings actually looked almost realistic, complete with black feathers with a soft sheen of iridescent blue. They were attached to his arms like how you would think wings would be attached, and he swung them around like they were extensions of himself. And the tall blond boy didn't waste time. With every shot negated he would smirk and take a step forward, and Kageyama, being primarily ranged, had to keep backing up. Needless to say, it was a bad matchup for him.

"What's wrong, 'king'? Still going solo? Wanna waste magic on a low-ranking defender again?" Tsukishima said, taunting the raven head with a smug grin. This apparently fired up Kageyama, who responded with a low growl and a scowl. The bolts grew slightly in size and began to fly faster, finally forcing Tsukishima back a little to adjust.

Hinata was so focused on the two fights between seemingly even opponents and failed to notice the bright orange lance that hit him point-blank. It didn't hurt so much as it knocked the air out of him. As he flew backwards, he looked to see the green-haired Yamaguchi on his broom, sweating out a waterfall.

"Ah! Uh... I'm sorry! I hope it didn't hurt that badly!" said Yamaguchi nervously. Once Hinata had hit the ground with a loud 'thud', Yamaguchi flew up and did a slow loop through the air, preparing for another charge.

"Hinata!" Tanaka yelled.

"I thought the first lesson he taught you was 'keep your eye on your opponent'," said Daichi, seizing Tanaka's moment of distraction to lunge forward and send a finishing blow. Tanaka barely managed to parry it but was now stuck in a stand still where their swords sent sparks flying, the captain and king each trying to overpower the other with brute force. Essentially, they were now both immobilised. Kageyama looked over at the two.

_I need to get the captain out of there before he's overpowered..._ was all he was thinking when he sent a magic bolt towards the parrying veterans. It grazed Daichi, but it did its job. Kageyama couldn't celebrate though, he was too busy getting bashed by Tsukishima's winged arms. The blond didn't even utter a word, unlike Daichi, with only the smuggest face in the kingdom on his face, taking in the satisfaction of watching Kageyama cry out.

Kageyama was on the ground, his bow landing beside him. Tsukishima towered over him, ruffling the feathers on his wings. Kageyama knew he had to get up, but whether it was the sight of the towering Tsukishima or just pent up emotions, he suddenly felt crushed. He had never felt so low all of a sudden.

_"Jeez, for rookie of the year, he's sure made more trouble than peace!"_

_Get up, Tobio..._

_"Honestly, what's his deal?! I didn't even say anything and he just scowled at me!"_

_Get up..._

_"STOP FIRING THEM SO FAST! KUNIMI GOT HURT TRYING TO HIT IT!!"_

_Give up..._

_"Get out of my kingdom, Tobio-chan..."_

_Give up, Tobio..._

_"I SAID GET LOST!!!'_

"Aww... is the 'king' actually crying? I didn't know you had an emotion besides anger," Tsukishima taunted, his voice so condescending it would make anyone else want to punch him. Kageyama wasn't even aware that a stray tear had rolled down his cheek. He tried wiping it, Tsukishima snickering.

"Honestly, Kageyama, you're pathetic," spat the tall blond, lifting his wings to prepare for the finishing bash-

"TSUKKI WATCH OUT!!" Yamaguchi's voice rang through both of their ears. Tsukishima turned back... and was met with a bright orange sword beam. Tsukishima turned into a torpedo and crash landed on the ground, hitting the plant life right on target. Hinata stood triumphantly over the blond while Yamaguchi tried flying towards him on his broom. He was swiftly knocked off by a near-painless Tanaka-slice, however. 

Yamaguchi fell to the ground and struggled to get back up. Meanwhile, Tanaka made sure to dodge the still-flying broom, watching it zoom past him and straight into a pursuing Daichi. It hit him in the stomach, the pain surging through his body. And yet despite effectively receiving the worst possible punch to the gut that wasn't an implement, the king still stood strong. Tanaka smirked proudly.

"That's his majesty fo ya! He's not gonna go down that easily!" he exclaimed, earning thunderous cheers from the spectators.

"All hail King Sawamura!" filled the air as Tanaka charged Daichi once again.

Hinata blinked. He hadn't realised he had been blocking out the crowd all this time. They were all gasping and cheering and shouting since the battle began and yet Hinata didn't remember hearing a single thing. Running and fighting like this took him back to his thieving days... which was literally only a few days ago. But the point was, whenever he was in these vigorous situations, his heart raced, his blood pumped, adrenaline coursed through his veins, and suddenly everything going on in the background didn't matter. He was enjoying this... no, he had always enjoyed this.

As the tangerine's adrenaline rush died down slightly, he managed to make out a small sniffle. He turned to see Kageyama's face darken, looking down, hiding his expression. More gears turned in Hinta's mind.

"Are you crying?" he asked bluntly. He didn't mean to. He just rolled it off his tongue without thinking. Kageyama wiped his tears away again, quickly scowling.

"Shut up, dumb*ss... who said I was crying?"

"He did and I did, 'king', just admit you're a wimp already!" teased Tsukishima, brushing dirt off his shoulder. Hinata held out his sword threateningly but the tall blond just held his wings out in front of him.

"Okay, for the record, newbie, your slash didn't hurt as much as you think it did. Barely did a number on me, see?" he said as he put his undented, undamaged armour out on full display. The only thing present was a small scratch where Hinata hit him. The orange-haired boy scrunched his nose. 

"How do you know I wasn't controlling the intensity, stupid french fry," he muttered, barely audible. Tsukishima ignored him.

"Secondly, you should really give up on this guy already. Rookie of the year awards are wasted on him," he said, glancing at Kageyama.

_Are you just going to let him insult you, Tobio? Get up already!_

"Why though? He's so talented! I haven't seen anyone else here that fired magic bolts from a longbow! And they're so fast like 'whoosh' and 'nyoom' and-"

"Okay, stupid newbie, I didn't understand a word you said. Well, except for the 'they're so fast' part. That's exactly why he doesn't deserve any recognition."

_Get up, you crybaby!_

"Do you know why I keep calling him 'king'?"

"'Cause he's awesome like the actual king?" At that, Tsukishima laughed hard.

"Oh God, I'm in tears! Let me tell you something, newbie. Two years ago, right after 'Mr Awesome' over here got rookie of the year, he went on an important mission," began Tsukishima. While telling his tale, he charged at an unprepared Hinata and bashed him, knocking him back.

"On that mission, his team met some pretty strong enemies, so his commanding officer suggested they fall back and regroup. But his stubborn highness wouldn't listen." Hinata fired a slice at him, and yet Tsukishima continued towards him unhindered, shrugging off the beam with his shield wings.

"He insisted they charge in and charged in himself first, not something you'd do if you have a small task force rather than an army. But he did it, and fired bolt after bolt everywhere." Hinata was on the ground and was ambushed in the back by Yamaguchi, who forced him to drop his sword and pinned his arms against his back.

"Sorry," he muttered softly. Hinata struggled, but as soft as the green-haired boy looked, he was strong.

"Any bolt that headed for the enemy defenders was easily negated. Any bolt that headed for the enemy swordsmen was blocked. And the enemy reflectors definitely enjoyed the abundance of ammo to fire back." Tsukishima raised his wings, preparing for a finishing bash.

"And to top it off... do you know the basic technique of a swordsman boosting the power of a range class bolt of the same magic? Even if you're a newbie you should've at least seen it action," asked Tsukishima, dropping his wing arm and bending down to match Hinata's standing height. It was like he was genuinely asking him that question, and his tone made him sound like he was coddling a toddler, and Hinata hated it. He nodded anyway. Of course he'd seen it in action. He's done it. Although the memory was still kind of a blur in his head.

"Well, the stray bolts he fired were a prime opportunity for the swordsmen on his side to counterattack. If they could hit them and boost them, they could at least get out of there safely. But you know how fast the bolts are, right? Even if they're naturally fast, the mage firing them could at least control the speed. It's just that faster usually means 'better against enemies'. So all his comrades said was 'fire slower' in hopes they could escape, but..."

Kageyama didn't need to hear the rest of it. The scene itself played like a movie in his mind.

_"Kageyama! Fire them slower! If we can hit them, we can turn the tide!" ordered his commanding officer. The order flew into one ear and exited the other. He was so hyped up on adrenaline right now. He was the archer mage prodigy, the rookie of the year, he fired bolts that flew faster than any other, why should he slow down?_

_"You can't hit them because you all suck! You all need to be better! You need to be faster!! Stop being so terrible at your jobs!!"_

_Every guard on his side was stunned. His commanding officer didn't even know how to respond. It was at that moment, his whole little task force gave up. One was struck down by a turquoise sword beam. Another was struck down by a turquoise-tinted bright white bolt. Walls of vines bashed against some more. Soon, they began dropping like flies. His commanding officer was the last one standing. Tears began forming in Kageyama's eyes, disturbing his aim, which were free pickings for the reflectors. He was barely holding it together._

They suck! They died because they suck! They- _Such were the thoughts running through his head. Could you blame him? A teenager having to watch his teammates fall in front of him? Denial was only the first stage._

_Although, a reality check quickly came in the form of his commanding officer, pressing his bloodied forehead against his. In fact, he was bleeding from multiple places, and that's not including the bruises and broken bones._

_"Kageyama, listen here, someone needs to report this. I'll hold them off for as long as I can. This is an order. Go! Run!" he ordered, using a painless 'blunt' slash to send Kageyama flying backwards. He didn't end up that far, but it was a good enough headstart._

_Looking back, he saw his commander cutting down enemies left and right, slice after slice flying everywhere. He knocked down about 15 of them before getting impaled by what seemed to be a cactus sword. He sent one more slice that killed a defender, and he went limp. Kageyama's legs took this as a firm sign to run, his mind still not comprehending the situation. It did pick up the scent of roses though. A smell that he very much remembered and **hated**._

_Stupid plants!_

_Stupid crest of vines!_

_Stupid Seijoh!_

_Stupid..._

"Stupid Tsukishima..." he muttered under his breath, letting loose a single black bolt. Tsukishima dodged it easily through instinct... which is what Kageyama bet on. The bolt struck Yamaguchi straight in the chest, nothing that resulted in a wound, but still caused enough pain to feel like it had. The green-haired boy screamed, falling to the ground unconscious again, freeing Hinata.

"Damn it..." Tsukishima said to himself. His wings seemed to darken as if they grew another layer of feathers. This time, he let his frustration fuel his charge against the archer mage, tanking every bolt he fired. Luckily, Hinata was there to stop Kageyama from getting bashed and struck Tsukishima down.

"Surrender now! You salty blond!" Hinata exclaimed. Faintly, in his ears, he could hear cheers. Tsukishima glanced over at Yamaguchi before raising his hands up in defeat, grumbling.

"Careful, shortie. You'll come to hate the 'king' soon enough."

"Dammit Dai- your majesty! I surrender!" exclaimed Tanaka. He was currently in a chokehold, Daichi's sword held against his throat, his own sword falling by the wayside.

_When did that happen?!_ Hinata screamed in his head. Daichi, meanwhile, let go of Tanaka, allowing him to go help Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. The three of them were out of the picture. All that stood between Hinata and his new life was the king... and by his side, the 'king'.

"Wow, I'm impressed. Although, I can't help but notice you both aren't in the best condition to take me on right now," Daichi mentioned.

"Oh yeah? Well, neither do you!" Hinata shot back. Granted, it was the adrenaline speaking, he didn't know if Daichi was even breaking a sweat. But that didn't matter, not here, not now. Daichi's smile grew wider, proud of the boy's determination. It was all the more reason his slashes got larger and quicker.

The first wisp slash split Hinata and Kageyama apart. The second and third put the pressure on Kageyama, not giving him a chance to fight back. Of course, he expected Hinata to jump at the opening, which is why he was prepared to parry the short ball of energy, knocking Hinata off balance.

Hinata looked on with dreamy eyes, struggling to parry slice after slice that the monarch kept sending his way. Kageyama had no choice but to dodge his, and soon, he was pressed into a corner. Daichi aimed a crushing slice towards the archer mage, but Hinata quickly jumped in front of him, swinging his sword like his life depended on it.

"Any ideas?" he asked Kageyama softly. Kageyama, while keeping his eyes on any stray slices that Hinata failed to block, thought back to something the annoying french fry said.

_"Do you know the basic technique of a swordsman boosting the power of a range class bolt of the same magic? Even if you're a newbie you should've at least seen it action."  
_

_That's right! We did it once that night! We can do it again! ... Will it work though- no! Now's not the time! If anything, this guy's instincts can at least shock the king long enough so I can land an actual shot on him... alright! Let's do this!_

"Do you trust me?" Kageyama asked.

_Do **I** trust me?_

"Are you kidding me? Of course I trust you! Give me everything you've got!"

_Give him everything I've got... should I?_

A slice made it past Hinata and grazed Kageyama on the cheek.

_Dang it! It's now or never!!_

Kageyama focused as much magic as he could. The bolt that formed shone brighter than any other bolt he's created since coming to this kingdom. He let it go.

It was on a crash course straight for Daichi's head, but of course, he dodged it with ease, merely tilting his head almost hauntingly. He smirked and raised his eyebrow, wondering if that's all Kageyama had. Though, he did just barely see a blur of orange out of the corner of his eye.

Hinata ran to catch up with the shot, jumping into the crowd, who had the right idea to clear out the way for the shortie to land. As he did, his sword connected with the bolt.

He landed with a thud on the ground. He was out of bounds.

Daichi stood his ground, but the powered-up bolt was grinding against his sword instead of disappearing or deflecting as a normal bolt would. Sparks flew, and Daichi was slowly losing the battle against this monster bolt, sliding backwards slowly out of bounds. Kageyama didn't relent up either. He kept the fire coming.

Finally, Daichi's struggle came to an end and he flew across the field, landing hard, his rear barely touching the boundary. A dust cloud masked whether or not he was still in or knocked out, something which sparked a moment of doubt in Kageyama. He hesitated, and for that, he was pummeled by a wispy black sword beam.

Hinata watched Kageyama fly out of bounds, his face unreadable. He ran to the raven-head's side when he crashed.

"Ah! Are you okay?! That beam didn't hurt, right?! Are you alive?!" Hinata exclaimed as he panicked. "Wait! But... if you're out... does that mean I..."

Overwhelmed with emotion, a single tear formed in the corner of Hinata's eye. The intimidating presence of a battered yet triumphant king walking towards him didn't help. Hinata did his best to will himself not to cry as Daichi stood over him, the crowd silent.

_I have no reason to cry. I always knew I didn't I have a chance. I'm too inexperienced and only have my instincts. Still... I thought I could... maybe I could've... just this once..._

"Hinata Shoyou," Daichi's voice boomed into the quiet night sky. An immense pressure fell over everyone present as if the sky was pressing against them. Hinata didn't want to look up, but his head acted on his own accord, and he found himself staring into the monarch's stern, commanding dark brown eyes. And a moment later, they went from stern to gentle.

"Welcome to the Karasuno Royal Guard."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy did I want to write more fight scenes but while writing this, I realised I am terrible at them. Hopefully, I can work on that as I write this. I think I'll stick to my bland, straightforward way of writing where I inflate the story with unnecessary and repetitive stuff. Thanks for reading this chapter though!


	7. Called away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as of writing this, I'll be swamped in examinations and studies. And who knows? I might become the typical fanfic writer and disappear off the face of the planet when I get overwhelmed with responsibilities. But I am still writing the book as when this chapter is getting published so we'll see!

Hinata stood at his mom's bedside. She laid there peacefully, bandages wrapped around her head and arms. The strong scent of the lavender vase next to her bed penetrated his nose. Something about nice smells promoting magic currents for healing or something? Hinata didn't know. Although he had the instinct for it, he was as new to magic as a common peasant child, which makes sense considering he is a peasant child, or rather, was. He brushed his hand gently across her face. The doctors had no clue how she slipped into this endless sleep and had no idea how to wake her up either. It was something they'd just have to deal with.

"Hey. Mom?" He was replied with a deafening silence.

"So... I'm a guard now. It's what you wanted, right? Heh, all they need to do now is give me some sort of ceremony or something to make it official... I don't really know but hey, I'm doing it!"

...

"Don't worry though! Koji and Izumi's families will take care of Natsu while I'm away! And I can't be away forever, right?"

...

"...Hey mom... I love you... and you can bet Natsu and I will be here when you wake up! So please..."

It was really hard for Hinata to hold back his tears.

* * *

_"Welcome to the Karasuno Royal Guard."  
_

_Needless to say, Hinata was stunned at the king's proclamation. He lost did he not? He told the king just as much._

_"Let's just say, I can see the potential in you two," Daichi hummed. Oh, so he was basing it off of foresight? Wasn't that decision kind of rash? Hinata had thought his lack of skill was on clear display throughout the fight._

_"Hell yeah!" yelled Tanaka, taking his shirt off and swinging it around. All the other guards applauded, not thunderous by any means, but applause. They just don't dish out the roaring for rookies... not anymore._

_"Am I interrupting something?" deadpanned a bespectacled black-haired lady. The crowd cleared the way for her upon hearing her voice, save for a certain Captain of the Guard._

_"LADY KIYOKO!!!" He cried, attempting to leap into the lady's arms. Nevermind that her arms weren't even open, nevermind that he was shirtless, nevermind that a man of his body mass would certainly cause a relatively petite lady like Kiyoko to fall uncomfortably on the ground, and nevermind this is essentially harassment because they haven't even gone on a first date, Tanaka was overjoyed and he was going for it! Fortunately, or unfortunately for him, Lady Kiyoko swiftly crouched down, letting Tanaka fly over her. After Daichi was done chuckling, he gestured for Kiyoko to speak._

_"Your Majesty, Mr Takeda requested your presence, urgently," she explained, tuning out the audible crash of the captain hugging the ground with his face._

_"Ah! Alright then, I suppose it's time I take my leave. Thank you for the terrific performance, Hinata, I hope to see you tomorrow morning. Tanaka will tell you what to do," as Daichi said that, he glanced at the captain, who gave him a weak thumbs-up, face still attached to the ground. "... When he gets a hold of himself, of course."_

_With one last hail to the king, Daichi followed Kiyoko on broomstick back to the palace, leaving Hinata confused but excited. He was gonna become a guard! Now if only Captain Tanaka would get up and tell him what to do._

_"Ah~ I love it when she ignores me!" Tanaka cried._

* * *

"Do you swear on the great Garasu, that you will defend her honour and the honour of all those that wield the magic of the crow?" recited Takeda, holding a thick book with brown aged papers in between its cover. Daichi stood to his left, a regal black robe with orange fur-like rims on his back and a crown on his head. Tanaka stood to his right, donning a golden breastplate and a helmet that glistened in the sunlight that was pouring through the window. Hinata was kneeling before them all, his left arm resting on his side and his right on his knee.

"I swear," Hinata said, doing as he was previously instructed to do.

"And do you swear by the crown and the sword, that you will defend this kingdom and her citizens to your dying breath?" Takeda continued.

"I swear."

"Then, I dub thee Hinata Shoyou, junior class royal cadet!"

There was little but energetic applause, partly because it was only Koji, Izumi, and Natsu who attended the ceremony. Daichi, for some reason, had asked for the ceremony to be held in secret, confusing Hinata, though he complied with his king's orders. Still, he vaguely recalled people in the market talking about every new guard that was initiated a few hours after their respective ceremonies, so surely this was supposed to be public, right?

"Mr Takeda, could you call the council to the meeting room?" requested Daichi, immediately taking off his heavy robes the moment the ceremony ended. Takeda gave a light nod and bowed before leaving. Daichi then gave a knowing glance at Tanaka, who returned his gaze with a determined look and a nod. Hinata was completely lost.

"Um... what's happening?" he asked.

"In due time, shrimpy. In the meantime, go back to HQ to do some good 'ole team bonding! Y'know, for battles and stuff!" Tanaka suggested, grinning with his sword swung over his shoulder.

"Yes sir! ... Wait, who are you calling shrimpy?!" exclaimed Hinata. He then immediately slapped a hand over his mouth after realising he had just given attitude to his captain. Tanaka didn't seem fazed, however, merely chuckling and waving him off like some toddler. Before Hinata's blood could boil, he was tackled by his sister and two childhood friends.

"WAHHH! SHOYOU! YOU'RE ONE OF US NOW!"

"OUR SHO-CHAN'S GROWING UP!"

"I'M SO PROUD OF YOU SHOYOU! I PROMISE I'LL WORK EVEN HARDER FROM NOW ON! FOR MOM!"

"Okay... t-that's nice and a-all... b-but you guys are s-seriously- ow- crushing me! GET OFF OF ME!"

* * *

Kageyama entered the changing room with a loud creak. Any chatter that was happening in the room before he entered completely ceased. Everyone was staring at him, some cowering, some glaring, some turned away immediately afterwards, pretending he didn't exist. Soon, most of the guards quickly wrapped up whatever they were doing and pushed past Kageyama to exit the room.

The raven-head let out a sigh. Coming back to HQ wasn't as glorious as he thought it would be. Heck, he wasn't even supposed to be here permanently! Once Captain Tanaka finished his business with the newbie, it would be back to the crappy outpost for him. And seeing how everyone had reacted to him simply entering a room, perhaps it was for the best. The only person he has even remotely had good teamwork with was the tangerine newbie. How was he doing anyway? Probably getting smothered by the captain for being so adept despite his inexperience. He was probably receiving many awards by the king for putting up a fight. Kageyama could almost hear the cheers from when he was the one on that stage. Those were the days, feeling like he was the-

"King! Earth to the King?" came a sarcastic voice from behind him. Kageyama didn't bother to meet Tsukishima's annoyed golden-browned eyes, merely complying and putting on a plain black shirt. Yamaguchi stood wordlessly This was in no way how he imagined his return to the capital would be. Then again, he was just back here because of some cute orange shrimp- _not_ cute! No! That'd be weird! Kageyama mentally slapped himself, not noticing the glares he got from everyone as he stepped out the changing room. Kageyama knew he deserved them. He just needed that one lucky break, that one mission that'd get everyone applauding him again.

"HEY EVERYONE!" The whole room shook. Everyone's heads snapped towards the sound that Kageyama was sure some of them cracked their necks. A cracked neck would be the least of everyone's problems though when the sun was in the common hall with them.

"I'm Hinata Shoyou! I'll be joining all of you from today onwards so please! Take care of me!" exclaimed Hinata, bending a full 90 degrees. By Garasu, was the kid on some sort of magical battery? Kageyama watched as he bounced around the room, shaking everyone's hands and doing more bows, all with the largest, brightest smile on his face. The hall quickly filled with enamoured whispers, all wondering just who this... excitable robot puppy was. How was he jumping up and down like that without tiring? How can a smile shine so bright that it blinds you? And where was Captain Tanaka? Wasn't he always in charge of the new recruits?

Hinata stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Kageyama. For a moment, time stood still as the two stared at each other for what felt like a few minutes before the same smile permeated through the awkwardness.

"Hey! I was hoping I'd see you again! Grumpy blueberry boy!" Kageyama swore he heard Tsukishima and Yamaguchi snickering in the corner.

"Oi! Dumbass! Don't call me that!"

"Okay then... how about... 'king'?"

"Don't call me that either!"

"Hmph! Then what about... Baka-geyama!"

"OI! YOU WANNA DIE DUMBASS!?" Kageyama grabbed Hinata's head and began to tighten his grip, intending to crush that thick skull of his.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow STOP! BAKA-GEYAMA LET GO!" Odd... Hinata's hair felt so comfortable and fluffy in his hand. He almost didn't want to let go.

"Hey King, you're gonna kill his remaining brain cell if you don't let'em go," Tsukishima teased, his signature condescending smirk plastered on his face. With a reluctant 'hmph', Kageyama let go of the tangerine hair, immediately missing the fluffy feeling in his palm.

"Oh, it's you! Oh... wow... what are you? A tree?"

"... Nevermind, King, keep crushing him."

"HEY! WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!?"

"You, obviously."

"HEY!!"

"Hehe, nice one Tsukki!"

"Shut up Yamaguchi."

"Sorry, Tsukki."

Everyone else in the room could only watch in silence, dumbfounded at the utter lack of logic in the arguments of the four young rookies.

* * *

To say Kinoshita was confused was an understatement. His thoughts were all over the place as his spiky light brown hair almost reflected the light coming off the torches in the halls. All Captain Tanaka had told the cavalry mage was to find a certain new recruit with bright orange hair and bring him to the meeting room immediately.

_The future of this kingdom depends on it._ The captain's cryptic words repeated themselves over and over again in his mind.

"His majesty is rubbing off on him," he remarked, rubbing his forehead, not looking up in time to avoid colliding with a figure that looked almost bald.

_WHA-?! CAPTAIN?!_

_..._

_Nope... just Narita._

"Oh, sorry Hisashi, I'm rushing somewhere right now!" said the defence mage. You couldn't really tell in the dark, but when illuminated in the torchlight, Narita's shaved head looked darker than Tanaka's, and the man overall gave off a calm, serene aura in contrast to the rowdy, almost murderous captain. Well, except in times like now, when he was stressed and in a hurry, evidenced by the sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Nah, I should be sorry. I wasn't looking. Where are you hurrying to?"

"I need to find... an 'orange' rookie? I'm not sure, but it's the prime minister's orders." This answer intrigued Kinoshita. His eyebrows raised and eyes wide, he wondered if they were trying to find the same person. But then why was Narita headed in the opposite direction? And the prime minister? What did he want with this mysterious rookie?

"Wait, are you looking for 'Hinata Shoyou' too?" he finally asked.

"Yea! Wait, how did you know?"

"Captain's orders."

"Huh, that's odd. Wait, are you supposed to bring them to the meeting room?" asked Narita, and Kinoshita nodded in response. As Narita calmed, the two guards compared information. It seemed like they were given orders at around the same time by both Tanaka and the prime minister respectively and separately, although the minister was less descriptive of the boy they were looking for as he hadn't seen him in person, only describing him as 'orange'. Narita had already checked the HQ offices for new recruit orientation but it seemed the boy never went through the normal procedure, which, while strange, was the least of their problems. Kinoshita was on his way to the offices too when Narita decided to search the common hall, and that's when they bumped into each other.

"And did the prime minister say the future of the kingdom depends on you bringing the boy over too?" They both stood in silence as Kinoshita already guessed Narita's response.

"Gosh... his majesty is rubbing off on the both of them..." they said in unison with simultaneous sighs.

* * *

"Alright shrimp. Tell me, are you the king's- not Kageyama, but his majesty's secret nephew or something? You did horribly in that initiation and yet he personally declared your entrance. If that isn't nepotism then the only other possibility is bribery-"

"Tsukki! You can't just accuse THE king of corruption like that!"

"Shut-"

"Sorry, Tsukki!"

"Hey! I don't know what 'nepo-prism' means but I got in here fair and square! Sure, Kageyama and I were defeated in the end but maybe his majesty saw my potential!" Hinata wasn't just pouting anymore, he was full-on annoyed. Tsukishima didn't seem to care, as he burst out in laughter when Hinata finished his sentence.

"Pfft... fair and square my foot! You didn't even have a public ceremony nor basic recruit orientation! This is literally the first time everyone's seeing you besides last night! Why would the higher-ups want to keep your recruitment a secret unless you're not even supposed to be here?"

"Hey! He may suck but the captain and the king see something in him. He at least deserves that bit of credit," replied Kageyama, scowling hard. _I see something too..._ he kept that part to himself.

"Don't kid yourself, King, shrimp's so short he probably can't even reach my hand if he jumps." Tsukishima wrapped his towel into a ball and raised it high above his head. The distance probably measured to about two 'Hinatas'. All the while, the smug grin never left Tsukishima's face, mocking both Hinata and Kageyama.

That did it. Hinata's blood was boiling so hot that he only knew one way to let off that steam as well as show Tsukishima who's boss!

"And why are you even defending him, King? You are the last person I'd want-"

_And then, pin-drop silence._

* * *

This was a dream, right? He and Narita couldn't find the new rookie and so got their butts handed to them by Tanaka and now they were hallucinating from the pain, right? But then. why would they hallucinate _this_? Kinoshita rubbed his eyes and even asked Narita to pinch him. His shaved-head colleague's eyes were wide and he didn't even look at him when he reached over to pinch him.

_Ouch, so not a dream._

They had just arrived at the entrance to the common hall and watched as a short little guard jumped up in front of Tsukishima, bright orange hair and head appearing above the blond's own head. His hands snatched the towel ball from Tsukishima's raised hand, and then he proceeded to land with a sounding _boom_ , prize in hand. Everyone else in the common hall was just as dumbfounded and in awe as them.

"Was that... some sort of... physical enhancement magic?" asked Kinoshita.

"... There's no such thing as physical enhancement magic, at least, not without displaying any signs of magic being used..." replied Narita, ever the thinker.

"So... you're telling me... that kid can just... jump that high? Without magic?!"

"... Bright orange hair... he's the kid we're looking for..."

"Is _that_ why the captain and prime minister want him?"

"... No... surely not... he'd have to do more than jump to impress them... but..."

"Maybe he has more talents?"

The two stood at the doorway, silently processing the scene. They would've stayed that way had a guard not spotted them.

"Lieutenant Kinoshita! Lieutenant Narita! Good afternoon, sir!" He saluted, attracting the attention of the rest of them. Everyone quickly followed suit with the salutes and the greetings, which snapped the two lieutenants out of their thoughts and saluted back.

Well, everyone except for two rookies.

"Tsukki! Salute!" Yamaguchi whisper-yelled.

"Dumbass! They're lieutenants, you could at least salute if you don't wanna greet!" Kageyama whisper-yelled.

Tsukishima stood his ground silently, only caving slightly to give a small, barely visible bow. Hinata, on the other hand, had stars in his eyes.

"Woah! Is lieutenant a high rank?! That must mean they're good, right?!" he asked, hopping up and down excitedly. Everyone else could only awkwardly glance at the boy, experiencing second-hand embarrassment at his lack of manners.

"Nah, they're weak, they're just higher ranked because everyone else is somehow weaker," mumbled Tsukishima. No one else seemed to have heard him except for Yamaguchi, who physically elbowed the blond this time, quietly telling him to shut up.

"Shut-"

"I didn't even say anything and I'm not even sorry," the green-haired boy almost growled. Hinata was briefly distracted by the olive-haired boy suddenly standing up for himself. How exactly did their friendship work? Then he remembered, ' _oh right!_ ', there are lieutenants here!

"Um, good afternoon, sir!" His salute was waved down by Kinoshita and Narita moved up to speak.

"Are you Hinata Shoyou?" He asked.

"Sir, yes sir!" _Huh, Deja vu_ , thought Hinata.

"We were asked to find you bring you to the palace immediately, so would you please follow us?" explained Kinoshita, gesturing for the boy to come.

"Uh... okay? I guess..." Hinata was slightly confused, he felt like he hadn't even had the chance to fully mingle around yet but if two lieutenants were giving the order, surely it must be important, right? His confusion didn't stop him from turning towards the crowd and giving them the full dose of his megawatt smile, though. And boy, it was as if the sun had personally come down from the sky to grace the Karasuno Guard HQ with its presence.

"BYE EVERYONE! I'LL BE BACK SOON!" _I hope...?_ He waved his goodbye, holding particularly long at the area where Kageyama, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were. Yamaguchi cocked his head to the side in confusion. Tsukishima looked unimpressed... like before. Kageyama avoided eye contact... bit weird. Oh well!

The room remained silent after the three had left. One second... two seconds... five seconds... ten seconds...

"By Garasu, that smile was cute," mumbled Kageyama, a bit too loudly it seemed as everyone else turned to look at him like he had grown another head. The raven-head slapped a hand over his own mouth and made a beeline for the changing room, locking himself in.

_Tsk, he was obviously blushing._ Tsukishima thought to himself.

"... I mean, he's not wrong..." said one guard.

"Was it just me, or did the room get brighter for a sec?" said another.

And just like that, the hall devolved into further chaotic discussions. Their new topic: Hinata Shoyou.

* * *

"So um... who asked for me specifically, if I may ask?" _Dang it Shoyou, you should've asked that before you allowed two strangers escort you away from the safety of the crowd... then again, they don't seem like they're gonna harm me..._

"The captain-"

"The prime minister-"

The two lieutenants proceeded to politely gesture to the other to continue their story first. Polite gestures turned to more aggressive arm-waving, and then, straight-up arguing.

"The prime minister is of higher rank, so technically, you should explain first!"

"Yea, but the captain is our direct superior, so if anything, he should hear _you_ out first!"

_Ah, so both Captain Tanaka and... the prime minister? I don't think I've met him... so how does he know about me? Did Captain Tanaka tell him? Or was it the king?! Oh my gosh, what do they both want with me?! Wait... could it be because... no! No way!_

"Okay, let's drop this for now. Here we are!" Kinoshita declared. Hinata didn't even notice they had arrived at the palace gates, and perhaps for his own good, because he probably would've passed out from having his breath taken away at the sight of the ornate gates of Kuroi Hane. Towering above the ground by about 38 metres, the wooden gates were painted orange and decorated with black marble in the pattern of feathers blowing away in the wind, starting small at the centre and gradually increasing in size towards the walls, making the overall shape look like spread wings. There were at least three guards stationed at every major pillar that spanned across the wide walls, and it seemed about ten were stationed right the gate itself. Kinoshita and Narita presented some documents to a guard before gesturing for Hinata to come forward.

"And this is the boy in question, Hinata Shoyou," exclaimed Narita. The guard looked him up and down before doing a brisk patting down of his body, which Hinata complied with. After some inspection of belongings and other stuff, they could finally enter. Hinata was equally stunned by the expansive courtyard. Various servants, guards and other officials treaded over the 100,000 square metres in droves, and in relative silence, seemingly always on the move. Some servants bowed when they made contact with his mini escort, and the guards gave small nods of acknowledgement.

"Why don't they salute?" Hinata asked softly, feeling like he would've committed a crime if he disturbed the quiet in the courtyard.

"We may be lieutenants, but in non-emergencies, palace guards have the final say in palace security, a rule that was introduced with his majesty since he ascended," explained Kinoshita. They briefly stopped to salute at a passing official, and soon found themselves in front of the meeting building, Kaigi Hall. The doors to this building were much smaller but no less detailed. This black marble pattern was in the shape of actual crows, forming four separate black circles, two on each door. After some more document reviewing by the guards outside these doors, Kinoshita and Narita gave Hinata a light nod.

"You ready?" asked Kinoshita. Hinata gulped.

"For... what... exactly?" he replied sheepishly.

_You're only asking now?_ thought Narita, "you're about to meet the council, which includes the likes of Captain Tanaka, Secretary-General Takeda, Prime Minister Sugawara, and most importantly, his majesty. So... are you ready?"

_I knew it! This does have to do with the meeting Captain Tanaka and the king discussed earlier! Wait... I'M GOING TO BE PART OF THE MEETING?! WAIT! WHAT AM I GONNA SAY?! WHAT IF I MESS SOMETHING UP?! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME BEFOREHAND?! OH GOSH OH GOSH OH GOSH OH GOSH OH GOSH-_

"...Y-yes, I'm... ready..." replied Hinata, putting on a brave face. Make no mistake, however, he was practically exploding internally.

"Alright then, here goes nothing!" announced Kinoshita as the guards opened the doors.

"Esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the council, we humbly present to you, Hinata Shoyou!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am giving Kinoshita and Narita bigger roles. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!


	8. Council meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have an extra update this week. There will still be regular update on Sunday because I have a few chapters lined up.

Hinata held his breath, he was now in the presence of the esteemed Karasuno Council, with all... seven members? Huh, he was kind of expecting more people on the council that presumably managed the whole kingdom. One of them, the bespectacled black-haired lady from last night, whom Hinata only knew as Lady Kiyoko, wasn't even sitting at the main table, instead, she sat to the side at her own little table with a large stack of books and papers in front of her. Hinata's confusion must have been obvious because Tanaka immediately let out a hearty chuckle. 

"Heya, newbie! What's wrong? Wondering why there are so many empty chairs?" He asked loudly. Upon his mention, Hinata realised that there were in fact six chairs left unseated at the main table. 

_So there_ ** _are_** _supposed to be more members_ , thought Hinata.

"You can probably tell by now that we're missing a few members, but that is not the issue at hand. Hinata, please, feel free to take a seat," Daichi offered, gesturing to the empty chairs. "No need to be nervous about sitting where a member should be, they won't be coming."

"Yea, actually, I'm not even supposed to be here, I'm just a stand-in!" Exclaimed Tanaka, trying his best to encourage the nervous boy. He patted the seat next to him, between him and a smiling grey-haired man. Gulping hard, Hinata obliged, slowly worming himself into the seat that was clearly too big for him. Tanaka then called Kinoshita and Narita over and handed them some more documents and whispered some orders too soft for Hinata to hear, even as he sat right next to the captain.

_It's kinda weird how Captain Tanaka is so loud all the time but can be so quiet when he wants to..._

Kinoshita and Narita gave their captain a hard look of 'seriously?' and Tanaka responded with a simple 'I forgot' before shooing them away. The guards closed the doors behind them, and Daichi took his cue to loudly clear his throat, attracting the attention of the whole council.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this boy here is Hinata Shouyou, whom I've spoken to you all about. Would you please introduce yourselves to him?" 

"Well, he already knows me! Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Captain of the Guard!"

The grey-haired man next to Hinata turned towards him with a gentle smile, "I am Prime Minister Sugawara Koushi, but you may call me Suga, little guy."

_His voice is so gentle... kind of like mom's..._

A bespectacled older man with messy black hair stood up straight, "Secretary-General Takeda Ittetsu, a pleasure to meet you, young Hinata!" He then bowed a full 90 degrees to him, a gesture which Hinata felt compelled to return but decided against it when he saw another man stand up. He had dark-brown hair parted down the middle of his forehead and looked almost perpetually sleepy.

"Ennoshita Chikara, crown prince of the Kingdom of Karasuno, at your service. You may have heard of me for inventing the advanced facilities at the guard's headquarters?"

"Woah, you're the crown prince?!" Hinata exclaimed. He then quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and bowed his head repeatedly to apologise, as if speaking out loud at this time was a capital offence. It was not. Ennoshita told him as much, chuckling while telling him to sit back down.

Next, a woman with short, dark brown hair and a sweet smile stood up.

"Princess Michimiya Yui. I am the head of the internal affairs division, which includes internal defence, so you may see me on the front lines if, touch wood, there's a military level emergency inside the kingdom," she said in an almost sheepish tone, though her words spelt nothing but confidence.

Lastly, Lady Kiyoko stood up from her chair at the side table and bowed 45 degrees, her face completely neutral.

"Hello, I am Shimizu Kiyoko, press secretary. I am responsible for all communications between the palace and the public." And just as quickly as she stood up, she sat back down. Tanaka, however, stood up and applauded loudly.

"Wooh! Alright! That's our Lady Kiyoko!" He yelled. Hinata was shocked, to say the least. Did his captain have a thing for the press secretary? Everyone else in the room avoided looking at him directly, with Suga and Michimiya laughing awkwardly and Daichi and Ennoshita looking like they were about to pop a blood vessel.

" **Sit your butt back down, Tanaka Ryuunosuke** ," Ennoshita ordered in a firm voice. Tanaka swiftly complied, letting out a soft yelp. So that was the power of those above the Captain of the Guard. Daichi once again cleared his throat loudly to loosen up the now tense atmosphere.

"And I believe I need no introduction, but for courtesy, I am Sawamura Daichi, sovereign king of Karasuno." Hinata felt his insides vibrate because of the king's booming voice. He definitely carried his title proudly. He made note of how this was in complete contrast with the prime minister, who sounded almost too gentle, like his mother.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves... it seems like our other guest isn't here yet. Nevermind, I trust that Hinata here may still have questions regarding the workings of our kingdom anyway. If he is to sit through this meeting and understand the topics discussed, perhaps we should clear some things up for him. Hinata, please, ask any question you have on either our roles, how our magic works, or otherwise and we will do our best to answer you," said the king. Suga moved closer beside him to and gently elbowed Daichi.

"I don't think a 15-year-old would know where to begin with such topics, maybe we should give him some help?" Suggested the prime minister. "For example, you might ask how is there a crown prince and a princess even though his majesty is an only child."

"Ah! I can answer this one. Titles like a crown prince, princess, and even the king aren't necessarily inherited by blood, but rather, nominated. What usually happens is the previous ruler nominates someone they deem suitable to be a crown prince or crown princess to inherit the throne, and the council has to debate their eligibility. Other titles like a prince, princess and general are also chosen by the monarch and council. The prime minister is elected by the populace, and they, in turn, form the cabinet and council," explained Michimiya.

After hearing this, Hinata wanted to ask about more about the relationships between the people present, like what are the criteria the council goes over, how does the ruler decide, how could the prime minister be so friendly with the king like that, but decided against it in favour of the thousands upon thousands of other questions regarding magic. Silly stuff like governments can wait, he needed to know more about his powers now!

"Ooh! Ooh! How exactly does my magic work?! Do I have to hold a sword or can I just use my hands?! Is it possible for someone to be born into two mage classes instead of one?! Why did my magic only manifest recently?!" He internally cringed at that last one, realising too late that the people here probably wouldn't have the answer to that. A smug grin briefly crossed Daichi's face as he glanced at Suga, who conceded defeat. Apparently, a hyperactive orange-haired 15-year-old doesn't need an example question. Tanaka was the first one to start off.

"Haha! Well, ya see, there have been cases of people being born with more than one mage class. Heck, some lucky buggers have been recorded to have been born into all five! They're rare, but they exist!"

"However, what they gain in versatility, they lose in raw power. It has something to do with their internal mana pools and how it distributes evenly across the classes you're born into by default and as a result, you can't unlock the full potential of one specific class... it's complicated," continued Michimiya, letting out a shy chuckle.

...

"Mana pools?"

"Ah! Mana is just the energy inside of us that allows us to use magic! The more mana you have, the larger your 'mana pool', and the longer you can use magic and the larger and more complex your spells become! It's as simple as that!" explained Takeda. Hinata nodded slowly, seemingly understanding.

"Although it has to be noted that the size of one's mana pools are completely random no matter their ancestry, birthplace or social standing, which is fascinating since this theoretically means people born to peasants can achieve great feats and people born to parents with high mana may not have the same size of mana pool, which means how much magic you can use is a completely by chance and there is seemingly nothing you can do about it and-"

" _Ahem_ , Mr Takeda, I think he gets it," Daichi interrupted, and just in time since Hinata could feel his head heating up from the information dump. Why did he do this? He could be outside fighting right now, going on a mission to save those in need, and-

"Speaking of ancestry, the one thing that genetics does dictate in terms of your magic is the type of magic you use. I am not talking about mage classes, but rather, species of magic you can harness. For example, we were all born to parents who had crow magic, hence, we were all born with crow magic," added Ennoshita.

...

"... Crow magic?" Hinata blinked.

"... Our magic species and mana are all basics taught in school. Did you forget?" asked Ennoshita. Michimiya slapped him across the shoulder.

"His family couldn't afford it! Daichi told us, remember?!" She whispered. Ennoshita was immediately filled with regret when he saw how Hinata's face lost its brightness and awe, contorting into an ashamed frown as he hung his head low.

"I... I never... mom could never pay for..."

You could practically hear everyone's hearts shatter. Suga embraced Hinata warmly, repeating 'oh you poor thing', 'don't worry' and 'it's alright' over and over again soothingly, stroking his hair with his hand.

"I'm sorry! Dai- his majesty did tell me about your family background before! It just slipped my mind! Please, accept my sincerest apologies!!" said a now frantic Ennoshita, standing up and bowing to the point his head hit the table, acting as if he had committed a grave sin. In a way, he kinda did.

"Sit your butt back down, Ennoshita Chikara!" Tanaka said teasingly, earning him a glare from the crown prince.

"... So about crow magic..." Kiyoko stated in a monotone voice. Hinata shot up from Suga's embrace, startling the prime minister as his megawatt smile returned to his face.

"Yea? Yea?"

"There are many species of magic, crow being one of them. Each species has its own unique feature. For us with crow magic, we have the unique ability to learn and adapt the magic techniques of others," replied Kiyoko in that same, bland tone. Hinata blinked. Kiyoko turned back to her work. Hinata blinked again. An awkward silence filled the room, remaining unbroken despite a singular cough from Takeda.

"... That's... it?" Hinata asked.

"No. But that's all you need to know for now. You are not ready for the more complex topics regarding magic species," explained Kiyoko.

"Oh c'mon! I can take it!" Kiyoko's face remained neutral and she was about to say something when the doors to the meeting room opened.

"Esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the council, * _pant_ *- we humbly present to you, * _pant_ *- Kageyama Tobio!" Kinoshita announced. Narita was beside him, also panting heavily. Both of them were drenched in sweat and were leaning against the doors. The raven-head who was accompanying them, however, seemed just fine, if not just slightly out of breath. The two lieutenants gave their captain displeased looks, to which Tanaka just shrugged and mouthed 'I forgot'.

"Ah! Just in time! Thank you, Kinoshita, Narita, please, take your leave." Daichi nodded, giving them permission to close the doors behind them and, presumably, to take a nice, slow, leisurely stroll back to headquarters. An audible _thud_ from outside implied otherwise.

Hinata and Kageyama both had wide-eyed looks as they stared at each other, each silently asking the other 'why are _you_ here?!'. Kageyama then felt a little rush of warmth fill his chest and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, so little in fact, that Hinata couldn't see it from where he was sitting. The orange-head didn't know why, but he could feel his cheeks flushing. _Maybe it's just the room,_ he thought. After all, it's not like the meeting room they were in had any other sort of device for cooling except for the cool wind blowing in from... somewhere. The windows weren't open and the walls were presumably thick enough for soundproofing... how was it cool?! Hinata made a mental note to ask after the meeting.

"Kageyama! Please, sit anywhere you like!" Suga offered immediately, a warm smile plastered on his face. After looking around, the archer mage eventually settled for the seat in between Takeda and Ennoshita, directly opposite from Hinata... for no specific reason of course! He just so happened to choose to sit there.

"Right, now that everyone is here, let us begin with the real reason for our meeting," Daichi began. As if on cue, Suga took out a vial of dark blue liquid and poured it at the centre of the table, causing a thick smoke of the same colour to emerge. Both Hinata and Kageyama were left jaw-dropped when they saw what was presumably a comprehensive map of the region. At the centre of the map was a symbol of a castle labelled 'Karasuno' with the coat of arms beside it. To the north was the same symbol, this one labelled 'Shiratorizawa'. To the south, the label of 'Wakutani'; to the east, the label of 'Seijoh'; and to the west, the label of 'Dateko'. There were many more labels, but those were much smaller in comparison to the four that caught Hinata's eye, and Daichi's booming voice dragged Hinata's attention away from the smoky map.

"What you're seeing now is a rather zoomed-in map of the region we're in, known as the Miyagi region. As you can see, we are quite surrounded by other, much more powerful kingdoms, and unfortunately, it seems that recently, one of them has made their move," explained Daichi. Suga then poured a smaller vial of turquoise liquid onto the existing pool, and the map changed into the image of two masked men running into the night, seemingly from the perspective of someone behind a castle wall.

"Last night, the border patrol guards caught sight of these two intruders. This image is taken from their memories, courtesy of Sugawara and Ennoshita. This, coupled with reports from Tanaka and eyewitness accounts from Kageyama and two other guards confirm what we've all feared." Suga poured a colourless solution onto the pool, causing the image to zoom in towards the masked men's faces, or rather, their turquoise masks, bearing the unmistakable teal rose that was the Seijoh coat of arms. Hinata began feeling light-headed, his mind flooded with vivid details of that night. He could still feel the choking smell of the black smoke attacking his nose, or was that the coloured smoke of Suga's potions?

"The fact that a pair of shitty little Seijoh scouts managed to sneak past our wall, burn a house, and escape back out is proof that our damn walls and border patrol need to be whipped into shape!" Tanaka exclaimed. Kageyama squirmed in his seat, growing more uncomfortable the longer he looked at the picture. The look of pure hatred on Kindaichi's face shook him to his core. _How did it end up like this?_

"The more pressing matter is that we have no idea what Seijoh is planning with this. Were they scouting out the area and attacked the house because they were spotted by the owner? Were they just committing a small act of terrorism? Do they report to the king of Seijoh or are they rogue? If they are planning to attack, when, from where, and how? We have too many questions and too little time to firmly secure our border. This is cause for a national emergency," said Takeda gravely.

_"Were they scouting out the area and attacked the house because they were spotted by its owner?"_ This sentence caught Hinata's full attention. Was Takeda right? Did his mom get unlucky and spotted the two Seijoh scouts? Is that why his mom was in the hospital?! Just bad luck?!

"This is much too serious! Seijoh has one of the top four militaries in the region. We are completely unprepared for an invasion!" Ennoshita commented.

"I'll get to securing our eastern border right away!" announced Michimiya.

"Securing our borders is our top priority, yes. But I'd like to emphasise what Mr Takeda said. What we're lacking in most right now, is intel. If we had more information, we could come up with a better strategy for defence and possibly even plan a counterattack. But we don't, we can't, our guards are too weak to face Seijoh. Any scouts we send never come back," said Daichi, steering the conversation.

"What should we do about that, then?" asked Suga.

"I propose we form a specialised scouting team, one composed of elite guards from our military," declared Daichi. Ennoshita had a sceptical look about him.

"First of all, our highest ranked guards below Tanaka are nowhere near as elite as those from Seijoh. Second, even if we did have elite guards to form this scouting team, why would we give them such a risky and dangerous task like scouting? Surely their elite status would make them better served to fight off an invasion," the crown prince countered.

"The thought has crossed my mind. But I believe that elite guards would have the best chance at surviving an encounter with the enemy and bring back the information we need. Compared to now where we're sending relatively low-ranked soldiers as scouts and receiving no return, it is a risk I am willing to take. In addition to that, this is where our magic species' unique ability comes in." Hinata was all ears for this part.

"Part of the reason our military has been in decline is that our ability to adapt and learn others' techniques is going to waste. Ever since all kingdoms closed off their borders, we have been unable to send out research teams to learn these skills and the guards who had already learned other kingdoms' abilities have all but died out with the previous generation. We have been surviving off learning from each other, which means we can never improve and evolve. Meanwhile, other kingdoms can just naturally develop and hone their abilities, so although they are limited to their own magic species, they are still constantly evolving. If we could get a scouting team out to secretly learn techniques, we could be in a much better position."

_Bzzt. Bzzt. You have reached the brain of Hinata Shouyou. Unfortunately, due to low processing power, it will take a while to digest this new information. Please check back later._

"So you need a small, elite team to go out there and steal combat techniques from other kingdoms? Gotcha covered boss!" Exclaimed Tanaka, already listing off potential candidates for the council to hear. Daichi smiled and lifted his hand to stop the captain.

"Then I should probably let you know that I want Hinata and Kageyama on this team," declared Daichi as if it was the most obvious thought. Apparently, not obvious enough, as the rest of the council gasped loudly, eyes wide, jaws hung open, and a lot of other expressions to describe shock and surprise. Hinata let out a loud 'gwah?!' and Kageyama a loud 'what?!'.

"It appears I wasn't clear enough. I said-"

"Yes, your majesty, you were perfectly clear the first time!" Suga exclaimed. "I'm sure we're all shocked because you are suggesting we send two rookies out on the front lines! Two teenage rookies no less!"

"Ah, is that all?" Asked the king, eliciting more gasps from those at the table. Even Kiyoko had her mouth left open, looking stunned, the most emotion she has expressed this whole meeting.

"Tanaka, you of all people should know why I want these two on the team. Did you not see how Hinata and Kageyama had near-perfect synergy during the initiation fight?"

"Well, yea! But Hinata doesn't have anything else beyond his instinct and Kageyama... well..." began Tanaka, suddenly feeling an intense pressure emanating from the Karasuno ruler despite still having a smile on his face. It wasn't as if the captain didn't have a point, but it seemed Daichi wouldn't take 'no' as an answer.

"That's why you'll be there to train them, right **Captain of the Guard**?"

"But- wait, I'm the captain! Shouldn't I stay here and defend-"

"Michimiya will defend the kingdom while you're away, right Michimiya?" The princess felt obligated to nervously nod her head in the face of the dark pressure. Hinata began to wonder if the pressure was just the king's presence or an actual form of magic. Kageyama looked at Hinata like he had opened his third eye before courageously turning to Daichi.

"Y-your majesty, I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm working with this dumbass! He is inexperienced and doesn't know anything else but how to swing a sword! His stance sucks, his form sucks, he's physically weak, he..." Kageyama rambled on and on about Hinata's various shortcomings while Daichi patiently listened to everything he had to say. Everyone else looked to see how Hinata would respond, expecting some sort of angry outburst. They weren't expecting to see the orange-haired boy looking down, his eyes darkened, staying silent.

Once Kageyama is done, Daichi simply turns to Hinata, a warm smile still on his face, and just asks, "what do you think, Hinata?"

Silence...

And then...

"... I'll do it," he murmured.

"Oh? Would you please repeat that louder so everyone can hear?"

"I'LL DO IT! I know I'm probably the most inexperienced guard in Karasuno right now! But I'm determined to learn! And I won't waste the chance you're giving me, your majesty! I swear, I'll become the best! So no one will doubt assigning me to missions again!" Hinata yelled. Daichi smiled. Kageyama gave him a stare-down, practically telepathically communicating 'did you not hear me listing off all the reasons why you are not ready for this mission?'. Everyone else didn't know how to respond. A stunned silence fell briefly, only broken by Tanaka.

"But-"

"You'll teach me right, **Captain Tanaka**?!" Asked Hinata, stars in his eyes. Something about hearing the words 'Captain Tanaka' in Hinata's loud voice and looking into those starry eyes of his made Tanaka feel something inside himself. Pride? Infatuation? Intrigue? No matter the exact feeling, he felt a wide smile creep up onto his face as he puffed out his chest.

"Yea... YEA! Don't worry Hinata! You can count on your captain! I'll teach ya everything I know!" Tanaka exclaimed. Ennoshita was the only one openly unimpressed with the Captain of the Guard, everyone else probably kept it in.

"You too Kageyama! I'll whip ya into shape! I'm your captain after all!" Kageyama shrunk back into his seat, startled.

"YAY! BEST CAPTAIN EVER!" yelled Hinata, only inflating Tanaka's ego even more. Daichi chuckled at how easily Hinata swayed him.

"Well, I believe we have all reached a point where we must take time to collect our own thoughts in private. Shall we adjourn this meeting, your majesty," asked Takeda. Everyone except Hinata and Tanaka knew what the secretary-general was doing, wanting to get everyone out of there as soon as possible before Tanaka could fish for more compliments from a rather loud and excitable sunshine child. Daichi merely nodded at the notion.

"We shall. Meeting adjourned."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More exposition instead of action! 'Cause I'm kinda scared of writing action scenes! I'm also afraid of description! What a surprise! I also suck at writing emotion, so I'm just hoping to reach the story parts faster. And I've somehow kept to a schedule despite college so that's nice! Hoped you guys at least enjoyed this chapter!


	9. The announcement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, warning: Censored mature language up ahead. Though it's just a small part, barely an inconvenience!

Secretary-General Takeda Ittetsu made his way through the bustling marketplace with only a light green cloak to conceal his identity. His mind was crowded with thoughts of the stacks upon stacks of paperwork that needed to be done after that interesting meeting. Though the king himself was the one who suggested the scouting team, he still needed to write up an official proposal, discuss the matter of kingdom defence between Tanaka and Michimiya, and work on an official announcement with Shimizu. And yet, despite the large amount on his plate, he was still taking the time to head down to a plain old building. It had fresh apples and pears displayed outside in vending stalls alongside newspapers and a few loaves of bread, with a small door in between the stalls to serve as an entrance. A sign above the door read 'Sakanoshita General Store'.

The secretary-general had grown accustomed to the little bell that rang every time the door opened, as well as the faint smell of cigarette smoke. Perhaps that was the owner's way of slowly killing him to stop him from coming. Unfortunately for him, Mr Takeda was a rather persistent fellow. The cashier sat lazily at his post, feet propped up on the counter. A small wisp of smoke emerged past the newspaper he was holding, hiding his face. Though with the ring of the bell, his feet immediately came down from the countertop and his newspaper was rolled up, revealing a man around his late 20s with dyed blond hair swept back by a black headband. A quick glance at his side profile and one would notice the two piercings on his left ear, as well as the cigarette that seemed permanently attached to his mouth.

"Hi, welcome to Sakano-" he began lazily, only stopping mid-sentence when he saw who had walked in. His brown eyes narrowed as Takeda took off the hood to his cloak, causing the clerk to let out an annoyed sigh.

"Oh great, it's you... Look, are you gonna buy something or not?" he asked, lacing his words with irritation. Takeda looked unbothered by the upset man and simply bowed a full 90 degrees.

"Please, sir, I'm begging you once again, the king needs a chief advisor!"

"Don't start that shit on me! How many times do I have to f*cking tell you I am not joining the council! If you want a chief advisor, ask my gramps once he's out of the hospital. I'm sure the old coot is itching for some action!" said the clerk firmly before going back to reading his newspaper. The two men remained in their positions for a while before the clerk looked over the paper to find Takeda still bowed over. Thoroughly pissed, he rolled up the newspaper and threw at the secretary-general's head. Takeda didn't even flinch.

"I will take my leave for now, then. But I will not stop until you agree," said the black-haired man before putting his hood back on and heading towards the exit, after picking up the dropped newspaper and putting it back on the counter, that is.

"Please consider it, sir. The kingdom needs you." And with a ring of the bell, he was gone. The clerk pinched his forehead and grumbled, before going back to his position of feet on the countertop and newspaper in hand.

* * *

"Aren't you excited, Yamayama-kun?!" Hinata exclaimed, jumping up and down repeatedly again like the orange pogo stick he was. The blueberry beside him did not share his sentiment.

"You're the only one who's excited, dumbass tangerine! You are literally a burden to anyone in combat!" This wasn't what Kageyama pictured when he thought of a grand mission to reclaim his honour. A mission by himself? Ideal! A mission with an orange-head who acted on athletic instinct alone? Destined for disaster! He figured he would have to constantly look out for him, checking in every five seconds to make sure he wasn't killed.

"HEY! No, I'm not! Well, not completely at least..." Hinata hung his head low, which made guilt eat away at Kageyama's heart. He was right about Hinata being a burden in combat, but that didn't mean Kageyama wanted him gone. Quite the opposite, actually, he wanted Hinata to just stay at HQ, or wherever he was posted, so he could see him every day... not for any reason in particular though! And he certainly would never admit that out loud! Distracted by his own thoughts, Kageyama failed to notice that Hinata clenching his fists tightly, before shooting Kageyama **a cold, crow-like stare**.

" **But I want to become a guard who can protect everything and everyone I love... and the only way to do that is to become the best, right?** " Hinata said in a 'matter-of-fact' tone, his voice icy and menacing. Kageyama felt an insane chill go down his spine as Hinata's **crow eyes** pierced his soul. How did the bubbly, jumpy, sunshine incarnate morph into something... sinister? Was he aware of unsettling it was? Was he aware that the logic in his sentence was kinda flawed? Kageyama kept all these thoughts to himself as he did his best to look away, but it was like the **eyes** had some sort of magnetic force to them, trying desperately to pull Kageyama's gaze towards him.

The raven-head was about to say something before suddenly, the gaze vanished. Hinata's eyes returned to normal, filling with light when he saw what was ahead.

"We're back!" he cried. The large, stone building that housed the Karasuno Guard Headquarters stood before them. Immediately he ran, past the gates, past the front yard, and into the building proper. Kageyama took the time to process what had just happened, how quickly the 'dumbass tangerine' could shift between moods, before brushing it aside as Hinata being weird.

* * *

"So, did you come here to pack your stuff after the captain fired you?" asked Tsukishima, snarky as ever. Kageyama was ready to ignore him but Hinata was ready for a fight.

"Hey! Just so you know, you tall beanpole, the captain just put me in charge of a very important thing!" Tsukishima visibly grimaced at the words 'tall beanpole' but chose to keep up the sass.

"Yeah, I know cleaning the bathrooms are important. They stink like you, so thank you for your sacrifice." While Hinata and Tsukishima were throwing hands, Yamaguchi was busy practising flying his broomstick. Now that Kinoshita and Narita were back, every guard was busy training at their respective stations. The quality of training varied, but the guards definitely wanted to look good in front of their seniors. Be it for a potential promotion or mostly to avoid reports of slacking off, they were training. Yamaguchi sighed, knowing this attitude wouldn't be good enough to rejuvenate the Karasuno military. Unlike his salty french fry of a best friend, he actually held hope that the Kingdom of Karasuno would rise to prominence once again. Maybe not in his lifetime, but he wished to see **some** form of improvement.

A gush of wind from above him interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see Kinoshita, large black wings on his back, sunlight giving them a bluish tint, training the other cavalry class mages. The lieutenant was the most experienced cavalry mage in the kingdom still active, and even he didn't measure up to the top ranking cavalry mages in the region, let alone outside of it. Still, Yamaguchi could only hope to get his wings someday; they were the mark of fully-fledged cavalry mages after all.

Suddenly, he felt a large body collide into him, which sent him and his broom spiralling downwards, and he faceplanted into the ground with a loud yelp. Thank Garasu for soft grass.

"Oh crap, are you alright?" The green-haired boy heard Kinoshita's voice as he got up. He watched as the lieutenant ordered a guilty-looking cavalry mage to come down and apologise for hitting him. Dusting himself off, Yamaguchi didn't even bother to register the apology in his head. He knew all about colliding into other guards while flying, something he did too frequently when he first joined. He watched the other cavalry mages fly back up into the air, and after a few more reassurances for Kinoshita, he watched his senior fly back up into the air too. And just like that, Yamaguchi had lost his motivation to fly more for today. He figured a short break wouldn't hurt his record, especially since Kinoshita could vouch for his injury.

Walking past the range class training grounds, he saw many guards either holding crossbows or staffs, firing away at the self-regenerating targets with mostly orange and black bolts. He was about to look away when he saw a familiar raven-head make his way down to the grounds. A couple of range class mages noticed him too, and soon, they were beckoning all the other ranged mages to leave and take a break inside. It was clear what the real reason for doing this was, not that anyone would say it out loud. After a while, only two other ranged mages stayed on the training grounds, and they made sure to stay clear of the target Kageyama was using.

Yamaguchi was one of the many who had a low opinion of Kageyama. He knew he was a terrible team-player, only focused on what he wished to do, which famously got his whole squad killed. Even so, he would never deny just how talented the archer mage was, his longbow being the most prominent sign. Only a few ranged mages were strong and talented enough to fully utilise the longer range and higher accuracy of the longbow, so Yamaguchi figured that people would at least want to observe and steal some techniques from Kageyama to improve. Apparently, he was not worth the effort, as good ole' Kags was treated like he had the plague. The green-haired boy could only sigh in sympathy.

He finally reached the higher grounds where the HQ building sat. Looking around, he saw many guards sparring, particularly some of the ranged mages that 'evacuated' the solo training grounds. Yamaguchi briefly lamented the fact that he had never won a sparring session, before noticing two other guards who weren't exactly sparring but rather tackling each other fiercely. He took one look at the blond and orange hair and sighed.

"Tsukki! Stop it, you're embarrassing yourself," he groaned.

"He started it!" Accused Tsukishima as he did his best to hold a flailing Hinata at arms' length.

"No way! You started it by insulting me!" Rebuked Hinata as he clawed away at Tsukishima's arms. His nails weren't sharp enough to cause scarring but were definitely sharp enough to cause irritation. Seeing Tsukishima bite his lips from the pain only encouraged Hinata to keep scratching.

"Shut up shrimp!" Tsukishima exclaimed.

"Sorry, Tsukki," Yamaguchi responded reflexively, before the weird looks on Tsukishima and Hinata's faces made him realise the 'shut up' wasn't directed at him. Whoops, guess that's what you get for being friends with a salty french fry. Yamaguchi waved at them dismissively, attempting to communicate that the 'sorry' was said on impulse. Apparently, the meaning wasn't clear enough, as Tsukki and Hinata interpreted it as 'continue whatever you were doing' and went back at gripping and clawing.

Yamaguchi was a pushover with other people, sure, but with Tsukki? He was pretty sure that he was the only one who could tame this blond dinosaur ever since his brother left HQ. So, seeing no other choice, he lifted his broomstick and held it like a bat, already preparing another 'sorry'. Now, who should he inflict blunt force trauma upon first?

Thankfully, no one suffered a concussion, courtesy of the booming roar of Captain Tanaka Ryuunosuke bursting through the doors.

"ALRIGHT YA LITTLE SCRUBS! EVERYONE GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE! I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!" Tsukishima dropped Hinata onto the ground in favour of covering his ears, checking to see if there was blood after the captain was done. Well, there wasn't any blood, but there was certainly a soft ringing. Hopefully, it'd be gone in a week.

"CAPTAIN TANAKA!!!" Hinata yelled, running up to his captain. He had to massage his butt a bit after the hard landing but was no doubt excited to hear his announcement. Tsukishima silently complained about how the ringing in his ears would take a few months to heal now. The guards moved in by bunches, herded by Kinoshita, Narita, and a few other senior guards. The last one in was Kageyama, to no one's surprise, and that's because some of the taller, bulkier guards made a point to obstruct Kageyama's view. This went unnoticed by people who would've intervened: Hinata was distracted by Tanaka, Kinoshita and Narita were busy keeping order at the front, Yamaguchi wasn't really one to specifically keep an eye out for the raven-head, and Tsukishima did notice Kageyama being blocked due to his height, but come on, he's Tsukki, all he gave was a smirk.

Kageyama had grown accustomed to this during these past few days back in the capital, well aware that no one would ever respect him again until some sort of big break. After all, it was his fault his squad gave up and essentially let themselves get mowed down, right? He deserved this, right? In fact, now that he thought about it, would a successful mission erase what he did from everyone's memories? How many missions would it take to cover up his display of arrogance? Maybe he was just doing this to make himself feel better as if one success could replace the lives lost. Did he even want fame and praise anymore? Maybe not... but he definitely didn't want to be tormented like this for the rest of his career! But hey, maybe... just maybe... he deserved it...

Whatever workplace bullying that was occurring was stopped immediately by Tanaka, however, when the Captain of the Guard got on his toes to scan the crowd for the raven-head. It wasn't easy; many of the guards were as tall as Tsukishima, but he was never one to back down.

Finally spotting him, he hollered, "HEY! KAGEYAMA! COME UP FRONT!"

As Tsukki lamented his sore eardrums, whispers erupted in the room, asking what the captain wanted with the boy. Despite the obvious reluctance, a path was cleared for Kageyama. It was a path decorated with glares and suspicious glances, filled with mumbled curses and muttered insults, and littered with feet attempting to trip the archer mage up, but a path. The tripping attempts were thwarted by the fact that Kageyama hung his head low, and didn't raise it until Tanaka called him again.

"Kageyama, stand beside me." If Tanaka was trying to incite more rumours and discontent, then he had certainly accomplished his goal. Internally, Kageyama was stunned and had his jaw hung open, wondering what he did to deserve such kindness. Externally, he put on a brave, neutral face and looked up at the captain before slotting himself by Tanaka's right.

"You too, Hinata," ordered Tanaka. The resentful whispers turned into more curious ones, the tension in the room lifting slightly. Then Hinata decided to bounce his way over to the small gap between Tanaka and Kageyama, fulfilling Tanaka's order while also standing by the raven-head. The whispers turned from curious to a mixture of intrigued and spiteful. There was a perfectly empty spot on Tanaka's left! Why was such a delightful, admittedly incompetent, but delightful little speck of sunshine standing next to the one whom the guards perceived as the black sheep of the Karasuno Guard? No, the question was why was he _always_ by Kageyama's side?

"Alright! Listen up ya scrubs! These two have been specially assigned by the Karasuno Council to a new, covert scouting team that will be commencing operations starting a week from now!" Tanaka announced, unveiling a scroll. The writing was illegible to anyone not in the front row, but those that could see the royal seal spread the word.

And then, a storm.

Confusion, anger, excitement, pride, curiosity, doubt, you name it. It was a storm of emotions that would've reduced the HQ building to ruins. Wild questions were being thrown around: Why was Kageyama 'the squad killer' Tobio on there? Why was Hinata 'the inexperienced sunshine child' Shouyou on there?! Wasn't a team like this meant for more 'reputable' people? A team that included a bad team-player and a clueless kid just spelt disaster! What was the council thinking?! What was the king thinking?! Objections were thrown around but none were clear, at least, not to Tanaka. He drew out his sword and slashed several beams into the air, each one making a loud sound and stopped short just before they touched the roof. While Hinata marvelled at the demonstration of magic control, Tanaka resisted the urge to fish for more compliments and cleared his throat once the uproar had silenced.

"I understand your confusion, but I assure you, there is nothing to worry about. The council went through rigorous debate before determining Hinata and Kageyama's inclusion onto the team," explained Tanaka. _Bullcrap!_ was the word swirling through Hinata's mind, as he recalled the king basically pulling rank and giving no solid explanation as to why he was part of the team. He had had time to think (while clawing away at Tsukishima) after his initial excitement wore off and the more he thought about it, the more he began to doubt his place. He was already happy enough to have joined the guards, he probably didn't need to join this special team. After all, if he failed, he was probably going to be stuck with a permanent stain on his reputation, and he didn't want that! That'll get him harassed! That'll get him demoted (despite already being the lowest rank)! That'll... make him become another Kageyama... _huh, never really thought about it that way... how does Yamayama deal with this?_

"I for one am impressed with how high Hinata can jump! With his athleticism, all it will take is training, right?" suggested Kinoshita, recalling the incident he had witnessed with Narita earlier. He directed his question towards his fellow lieutenant.

"Hmmm, maybe a bit more than that... but to say he is hopeless is a wild exaggeration. He'll start from the bottom and get better like all of us did, especially if he puts his mind to it," Narita responded.

"We understand that but what makes this shrimp so special that the king himself has to recommend him?" asked Tsukishima boldly. The ones around him widened their eyes at the boy's bluntness. Tanaka didn't seem to mind, however, as he gave the blond guard a wide smile, contrasted by his face darkening.

"I'm afraid that's confidential information, Tsukishima. But I will say that Hinata and Kageyama have more motivation to be on this team than anyone else," growled Tanaka, still smiling. He achieved what he intended: Tsukishima backed down, but not without grumbling. Tanaka then turned to the others.

"You're all worried that this team will be dead on arrival, but again, I assure you, Hinata and Kageyama will not fail, not if they want to stay in the guard!"

_Wow! Captain Tanaka can be so cool when he wants to! I want to be like him someday... wait..._

"Ummm, Captain... what did you say was going to happen to us if we fail?" asked Hinata.

"You heard me, if you fail, you'll be kicked out the guard!" replied Tanaka. He was grinning and chuckling like what he said was no big deal. People started to whisper again, discussing the possibility of Kageyama getting the boot, some with utter glee.

_Eh..._ thought Hinata.

_EHHHHHHHH?!_ thought Hinata.

"WAIT!! CAPTAIN!! WHY ARE YOU SO CALM?!!"

"'Cause I know you two won't fail!" Tanaka said firmly. His volume showed the confidence he had in the two rookies, and while it did calm Hinata down, he wasn't fully convinced he could do it. What did he say in the meeting again?

_"I'LL DO IT! I know I'm probably the most inexperienced guard in Karasuno right now! But I'm determined to learn! And I won't waste the chance you're giving me, your majesty! I swear, I'll become the best! So no one will doubt assigning me to missions again!"_

Yeah... hindsight is 2020 and boy, was he regretting so many things. Curse him and his loud mouth in the heat of the moment! Tanaka leaned in close to his ear.

"You... will succeed, right? 'Cause I don't wanna look uncool in front of my troops..." he whispered. Hinata went pale and froze. Tanaka broke a sweat. Both of them, quiet, fully understanding what Hinata's silence meant. Well, at least everyone was now suddenly more okay with the idea of Kageyama and Hinata on the team, probably because failure meant expulsion, and boy would there be nothing sweeter than **former** guard Kageyama. Shame the orange shrimp had to be tied down, though. Tanaka cleared his throat once more, moving away from Hinata.

"Either way, I'll be announcing the other members of this team throughout the week as the council discusses it. Then, once the week is over, the first official operation of the new Karasuno Scout Team will commence! NOW GET BACK TO TRAINING!" And with that, the captain walked out of the room with his head held high, leaving Kinoshita and Narita to usher the guards back to the training grounds, save for Hinata and Kageyama.

Hinata's feelings were all over the place. On the one hand, YES, his first mission is in a week! On the other, expulsion for failure. The orange-head began feeling nauseous, lumps of vomit waiting to pour out, and he was determined not to stain the HQ floor.

Kageyama wasn't hard of hearing. Every whisper, murmur and insult played back in his mind. They had tolerated him during the initiation fight but now their disgust had reared their ugly heads. _Probably because they didn't expect me to be back for so long, probably thought I'd be gone after the fight_ , Kageyama reasoned. On the one hand, he figured this would be the perfect motivation to prevail, and once he came back showered in praise by the crown, they'd welcome him back with open arms. On the other... honestly, he had nothing to lose. If he fails, nothing will change. They're just gonna keep harassing him, and at that point, he'll be out of the guard, so he wouldn't have to deal with them anymore! Perhaps Hinata will let him live in his house when they do get expelled. The thought almost excited him for some reason... sleeping in the same house as Hinata...

* * *

_Okay Tobio, that was a fantasy. Why is it suddenly real?!_ Kageyama couldn't believe his eyes. Narita was setting up two mattresses in a room separate from the main dorms right in front of him. Same building, but away from all the angry and spiteful colleagues, with the sunshine colleague as his roommate. This was the perfect arrangement, if not for the fact they'd be out in a week.

"The captain tells me this is gonna be the room where all the members of the team sleep in after missions. Since you two are the only ones, it's gonna feel a bit empty for now. But you'll be getting more company throughout the week, so enjoy the space while you can," explained Narita, wrapping a cover over the second mattress. "Also, until this team shows some results, mattresses are all we can afford to give you right now."

_Eh, they can't be too different from the standard bunk beds. And I'm sure anything from HQ is better than the haystacks in the Yukiga outpost_ , thought Kageyama.

"WOAH!! MY OWN MATTRESS?! THANK YOU SO MUCH MR NARITA!!" cried Hinata. Boy was near tears as he jumped onto one of the mattresses, rolling around on it, hugging the provided pillow. While Narita stood there stunned, Kageyama picked up the pillow from his mattress (not his, but Hinata basically 'claimed' the other mattress at this point) and felt it. It was basically a soft, cushiony rock. It wouldn't split your head open when you landed on it, but you'd probably feel like it did. The raven-head looked at the little orange shrimp, who was hugging the clearly uncomfortable pillow tightly like it was the softest thing in the world. _How did he live before this?_

"This is so much better than the bunk beds I slept in last night! Do you know how hard it is to try not to shake the bottom bunk when you're sleeping top bunk?! Also-" While Hinata rambled on and on about this 'upgrade', Kageyama couldn't help but think, _are we gonna be okay?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow I've managed to keep up with my updating schedule despite my workload of life. Let's see how long this lasts!


	10. Sleepless nights

**Night one**

_Hinata found himself back in his worn-down home, cold air seeping in through the cracks. Come to think of it, now that he had joined the guard, it should all but be abandoned by now._

_"Mom?! Natsu?!" He yelled against his better judgement. It's not like he expected a response, he just felt compelled to yell out their names. He wasn't expecting to hear a scream either. It was a woman's scream, by a voice he was all too familiar with._

_"MOM?!" He cried, rushing out the door. And there in front of him lay a scene that made him want to puke his guts out. Both his mother and Natsu lay bloody on the ground, over them stood the two Seijoh scouts from that night._

_"Oh wow, wasn't expecting to kill the whole family in one go," remarked the unenthusiastic one with parted hair. He raised his sword and sent a slash flying his way._

Hinata woke with a jolt. He looked at the clock on the wall, panting, it was 5 in the morning. Slowly regaining his composure, he turned to face Kageyama's mattress, only to find the boy not there. Instead, the raven emerged from the bathroom drying himself off, wearing only a towel around his waist. Hinata took the time to admire Kageyama's toned, well-trained body. No wonder the guy was so talented, he thought. In the darkness, he couldn't see the light blush creep up the archer's face.

"Dumbass! Stop staring!" He yelled. Hinata complied, letting Kageyama change into a light, workout outfit in private.

"Where are you going so early in the morning?"

"Running, obviously, dumbass!" Kageyama put on some shoes and made his way to the door.

"Wait! I wanna come too!" insisted Hinata. It's not like he was going back to sleep anytime soon after a nightmare like that. Plus, if he was to even stand a chance in the upcoming mission, some training was 100% needed. Kageyama stared at the orange-head for a moment, contemplating his offer.

"I'll run ahead first. Catch up to me once you're done changing," was his response, and before Hinata could say anything else, he was out the door. Hinata was left fuming as he picked up his toiletries and headed for the bathroom.

"Stupid Yama didn't even tell me his route!" 

* * *

Ennoshita sat at his desk, going through the various profiles of all registered guards in Karasuno. So far, he had scanned through 531 potential candidates, and so far, he had rejected all 531 of them. Every council member was supposed to pick out at least five guards each to present. If there were overlaps, perfect! That meant multiple council members agreed as to who should join. If there was an odd one out that no other member had thought about, they'd have to defend the candidate and convince the council. The issue was, as Ennoshita was quickly realising, the state of the Karasuno guard was in worse shape than he had thought. The only competent standouts so far were Kinoshita and Narita, and they were obvious winners. The rest were above average at best and downright lazy at worst. What even were these records?! Drinking on the job, falling asleep on duty, even straight-up desertion attempts! The crown prince groaned and rubbed his temple, accidentally knocking over some of the profiles in the process. Groaning again at his misfortune, Ennoshita moved to pick them up, when two profiles caught his eye.

* * *

"Hmm, I see both you and Tanaka have agreed upon these two, Ennoshita," remarked Daichi.

"I can see the case for the first one, but don't you think the other one is kind of... shy?" Asked Michimiya.

"I've seen him off duty before, the guy can be mean when he wants to," argued Tanaka.

"Well, that's off duty. If I remember your reports, captain, he tends to breakdown and apologises for being physical when fighting in sparring sessions," Takeda retorted.

"I understand the concerns, but his inclusion indirectly brings up the issue of adding Kinoshita to the group. He's a valued lieutenant and our only cavalry mage with fully-fledged wings still active in the force that shouldn't be on the field so often. We don't have a proper cavalry mage to succeed him should he... get killed on the front lines," Ennoshita argued. "At least, with both him and Kinoshita on the team, Kinoshita could train him to be his successor."

The council fell silent for a moment, everyone in deep thought, weighing the pros and cons presented. Daichi was the one to ultimately break the silence.

"Perhaps we should discuss his inclusion tomorrow. In the meantime, add the other one into the group. His defensive abilities are much too valuable to not include," he concluded.

* * *

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF GARASU?!" yelled Hinata when he saw a familiar tall blond standing beside Kinoshita outside of the scouting team dorm. Tsukishima looked utterly unimpressed, bordering on disgusted.

"Trust me, shrimp, I hate this as much as you do," he replied, sneering. "Did you think I'd voluntarily sign up to get roomed with you and the King?"

Kinoshita made a point to smack the blond on the back.

"This salty pain in the ass is gonna be on the team with you guys, so play nice. And I mean **all** of you play nice," the lieutenant warned sternly. Well, as stern as he could anyway, he still sounded too nice to be an authority figure, kind of like Yamaguchi or Sugawara. Except, Hinata had seen Yamaguchi put his foot down before and he wasn't stupid to think Sugawara rose to the position of prime minister without some hard conviction either, so he was sort of waiting to see Kinoshita have his moment. Not now, he supposed, because that was not the point.

"I thought I was gonna finally have some peace!!" The orange-head commented, earning himself another sneer from Tsukishima.

"As if you **weren't** gonna get bullied without me around. The king dishes out plenty of violence already, ya know?" Kageyama obviously heard that, evidenced by him scowling, not that he didn't do it regularly anyway.

"That's only if this dumbass is being the dumbass tangerine that he is," he retorted, sizing Tsukishima up.

"Yea!!... WAIT!! WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!"

"DUMBASS!"

"MORON!!"

"Idiots..."

Kinoshita blinked twice, his expression showing awkward concern. Were they gonna be okay?

* * *

**Night 2**

_Kageyama found himself in a lush green garden on a warm, sunny day, drawing circles in the dirt. He looked around, taking in the elegant blue rose bushes surrounding a brilliant white gazebo. A man with smooth, dark brown hair swept to the side and a lady with black hair similar to his sat across from each other in it. An armoured man with dark spiked up hair stood tall beside the man, hand on what was presumably a sword as if expecting an attack to occur at any moment._

_"Hey, Kageyama! Come play with us!" said a high, squeaky voice. He looked away from the gazebo to see two young boys no older than 10. The voice was coming from the one with his hair up in one single spike who was holding a small stick. The other one with hair parted through the middle was wearing a neutral expression, but he too seemed eager for Kageyama to join them, he could somehow feel it by the way he looked at him._

_Without hesitation, he found himself responding in a similarly high-pitched, squeaky voice, "okay."_

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the ceiling of the pitch-black room. He squinted at the wall clock after letting his eyes adjust to the lighting, about 4:35 a.m. He was running behind schedule. Getting up quietly, he took his toiletries and made his way past a snoring Hinata and asleep mask-wearing Tsukishima into the bathroom. 

As he let the water hit his face, he remembered the dream. How calm it was, like the shower. How nice things were... Had he told anyone else besides Sugawara about his past yet? No... not unless the prime minister told anyone else. He was pretty sure Daichi and Tanaka knew; Suga probably needed them in the loop. In this moment of absolute serenity, he felt a tear roll down his cheek, or was that just the shower?

Drying himself off, he opened the door to find a certain tangerine looking impatient, toiletries in hand.

"Finally, Yamayama! It's like you take forever in there!" Kageyama looked at the wall clock again, 5:00 a.m. Huh, the tangerine woke up earlier.

"Now that I don't have to waste time finding your route, it'll be easier to catch up now!" Hinata said before shoving Kageyama out of the way and closing the bathroom door behind him.

"Gosh, can he be any louder?" asked a groggy Tsukishima, not even bothering to move another muscle besides his mouth. Kageyama didn't answer him as he put on his running shoes.

* * *

"I'm telling you! It'll be so much easier to control Tsukishima's douchebaggery with him around! Those two are like inseparable!!" Argued Tanaka.

"I'm still very concerned about his safety, though. He's nowhere near the fastest cavalry mage in the force. What if he gets into a dangerous situation with no one around to help him at the moment?" Sugawara questioned.

"Then he'll have to be the big boy he is and improvise on the spot!"

"Not everyone can improvise on the spot in their first emergency, Tanaka!" The prime minister and the captain bickered some more as the rest of the council mulled over the papers in front of them, that is until Daichi slammed the table, stopping the fight.

"I have given the matter some thought, and though it pains me to send a fourth youngster onto the front lines, what Ennoshita brought up yesterday is hard to deny. If we are indeed going to be enlisting Kinoshita onto the team, he'll need to make sure there's someone equally as competent whether beside him in battle or back here defending. Move the boy into the room by tonight," declared the king. Sugawara would continue to protest this but Daichi made it clear that his word was final.

* * *

"Yamaguchi... wasn't expecting you to join me in this hellhole," commented Tsukishima as Narita helped move Yamaguchi's heavier bags in, while the green-haired boy stood nervously at the door. A small smile crept up his face when he saw his best friend but it was quickly replaced by a terrified 'gah!' when Hinata made himself known by jumping out of nowhere and yelling 'HIIIII!!!', much to Tsukishima's annoyance. The blond's quick singular 'shut up' was drowned out by the sheer volume of Hinata's greeting.

"I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves before! I'm-"

"Hinata Shouyou. I know, you sort of shouted it out loud on your first day... I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi," he said softly. Hinata cocked his head to the side, confused as to why he let himself be interrupted by such a small voice, before putting on his megawatt smile and proclaiming that this was gonna be the best team ever. Yamaguchi did notice how his smile seemed to falter slightly at times, however. Tuning out the little rookie, he saw Kageyama help make sure his mattress was properly covered as Narita made his way out.

"Hey... Kageyama..." The raven looked up at him with no particular expression.

"I... I don't exactly like you all that much, but we're gonna be teammates, so I hope we can put our differences aside and work together!" Said Yamaguchi, spewing that last part out in an anxious rush. He extended his hand out to the archer, who shook it silently and awkwardly.

"Oh, come on, Yamaguchi. You don't need to be so nice to the King now that he's your teammate. For all, we know he might let you die while he fails to shoot the enemies down," said Tsukishima snidely. As Kageyama revved up for a punch, all Yamaguchi thought was ' _low blow, Tsukki, low blow."_

* * *

**Night 3**

_Tsukishima found himself back in his childhood home. It was as plain as he remembered it: unremarkable beige walls, standard paneless windows with only a wooden 'plus sign' in it and an opening to a small backyard. It did also have a second story, though, so coupled with the backyard, he realised just how well his family was doing, and hopefully, they're still doing well now._

_He sat at the entranceway to the backyard, watching a tall, older blond man with black wings attached to his arms similar to his own, hold them up defensively in front of him. He knew exactly who he was, why wouldn't he? The guy had watched him grow up._

_"Aki? What are you even doing?" he asked him in a child's voice. His brother turned towards him, giving him a smile that was reminiscent of that of a pesky little orange shrimp. Wait, if he was young, how did he even know about Hinata?_

_"Practising, obviously!" His brother replied. Tsukishima found himself giggling, something he would never do when he was older._

_"Haha, but how can you practice defending without projectiles?" He asked curiously._

_"I'm practising my stances, Kei. Can't block bolts coming from multiple directions without knowing how to quickly shift stances!"_

_"Wow! Can you teach me?!" He asked eagerly. Again, his older conscience watching this dream couldn't help but feel he was acting out of character. '_ **_But that is your character._ ** _'_

_"Sure thing!" '_ **_Not anymore._ ** _'_

_"You'll see, Kei, you'll get to watch your big brother become the best guard in the kingdom!"_

_..._

_'_ **_Lies._ ** _'_

Tsukishima felt his eyes become damp, so thank Garasu he had picked up the habit of wearing a sleep mask. He began wondering what time it was and whether or not he had time to fall back to sleep.

"Oi. Dumbass. What're you doing in there?" He heard Kageyama's voice ask. He wasn't exactly shouting, but it was still loud enough for him to hear. He then heard a door opening and, considering the aromatic citrus-smell that followed soon after, he deduced that the 'dumbass' was in fact, Hinata fresh out the bath.

"Showering obviously! I'm done now! Take your time!" As he determined, Hinata's voice was heard, his louder than Kageyama's. He could tell the two were at least trying to keep it down. They were failing miserably, but there was an attempt.

"Dumbass! Don't you dare start the run without me!" Ordered Kageyama. A bit more shuffling and two separate noises of doors closing signified that Hinata had probably gone out and Kageyama had moved into the bathroom. _So it's probably around 4:30 to 5:00 in the morning_ , he deduced. _How is Yamaguchi sleeping through this?! Do I even have time to sleep anymore?_

...

_Eh, whatever. I'll just wake up around the time Yamaguchi does._

* * *

"Princess, are you sure you don't need at least _one_ lieutenant to stay behind and help?" asked Takeda. Michimiya nodded.

"I am confident that my task force and I can organise the remaining guards into a competent defence!" She insisted.

"Still, securing the kingdom from both internal and external threats sounds too heavy of responsibility for one person to bear," said Ennoshita hesitantly. Yet, Michimiya hit her chest proudly.

"Don't forget that I've suppressed two separate rebellions **and** that my force has aided troops in defending against sieges before, your highness."

"Alright, no need to get formal with me now. We're both technically the same rank."

"Then that's settled, add Kinoshita and Narita to the team," declared Daichi.

"Man, it's gonna be hard for me to handle all the troops by myself. Still, I've gotta be a good captain in the absence of my lieutenants like a true man!" Tanaka exclaimed. The room fell silent, the members eyeing each other and giving weird looks while Kiyoko let out an audible cough.

"No... NO WAY!!"

* * *

Hinata was clearly struggling to carry both lieutenants' bags into the room, and yet, despite the pleas of his two seniors to **please** let them carry their own bags, the young guard just put on his signature smile (through the pain) and inched his way towards the two new mattresses step by step.

"Great, now we're gonna be babysat 24/7," Tsukishima complained. While Yamaguchi smacked him on the shoulders for his thoughtlessness, Kinoshita and Narita could only sigh.

"Look, Tsukishima, I understand you've got a problem with us, but please try and work with us." Narita offered his hand to the tall blond, who gave it a half-hearted shake, much to the lieutenant's chagrin.

"Oh no, I don't have a problem with you two, I have a problem with how you got here," he replied. Kinoshita looked like he was about to pop a vessel.

"Why you little-" The light-haired lieutenant rolled up his sleeves and clenched his fists. Had Narita not held him back, the walls would've been covered in nose blood.

"Lieutenant, sir. May I ask why the council decided the both of you should be here? Why not just one?" Asked Kageyama. Kinoshita calmed down and shrugged.

"We're as clueless as you guys, but we could never refuse a direct order." It was then that Hinata had not only properly made the two mattresses, but also neatly arranged the bags close to the walls and by the mattresses.

"Ta-da! All done! This is so exciting! I get to fight alongside two lieutenants!" He cheered. Kinoshita and Narita patted him on the head to show their appreciation, prompting Tsukishima to let out an audible 'tsk' before putting on his sleep mask and lying down for the night.

* * *

**Night 4**

_Yamaguchi found himself in the middle of the training grounds. Except, he was completely alone. There wasn't another guard in sight, only the sound of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind. The grass around him was as lush as ever, and the equipment around him looked surprisingly new and untouched like they had been upgraded._

_"HELLO?! ANYONE HERE?!" He cried out into the evening sky. No response came, just a few startled birds making their mad getaway. With only one way to go, he made his way towards the HQ building. Getting up close, a strong smell of fresh paint filled his nostrils, prompting him to cover his face with his hand. Sure enough, the walls were freshly painted, the orange and black popping off the walls in the soft light of dusk. There were newspapers all across the floor, all stained with splotches of beige, black, and orange paint, as well as a few other colours. Quickly deducing that there must be a painter somewhere, he looked around, and finally saw someone standing atop a ladder._

_"Hello?!" He yelled quickly, not wanting to inhale more chemicals in the air. The lady, presumably the painter, turned to look at him._

_"Yes? How can I help ya?" She asked._

_"U-um, where is everybody? The guards, I mean!"_

_"The guards? They're all out fighting off some invasion from Seijoh. The royal press-sec lady said they could be advancing to a counter-invasion by the end of the week." Yamaguchi squawked at the explanation. Counter-invasion? Really?! Were they doing that well? And why wasn't he with them?_

_"Um, miss, I'm a guard too... what am I not... y'know... out there?"_

_"Yer a guard?... Wait, ya must be the guard they left behind to help clean! That's great! Would'ya be a dear and help throw all the other newspapers away? The government really went overboard with the renovations and I only have two hands!"_

_Cleaning?! What?! Since when?! He asked the painter as much._

_"The ole' captain said he'd leave a low ranking guard to help with the cleaning. Ya are the one he was referring to, right?"_

_Yamaguchi didn't know if it was because of the chemicals or the news, but he began to feel his head spin. Captain Tanaka left him behind to clean? No way! He was a part of the scouting team, right?!_ **_Was he really that unimportant?!_ **

Yamaguchi shot up from his mattress with a yelp, clutching his chest and shoulders heaving. That last question lingered around in his head, repeating over and over again until his mind fixated on one word: unimportant. Since when did he feel like this? Since when was he afraid of being insignificant? All he wanted was to lay low, right? Did getting picked for this team change that?

"Wakey wakey Yamayama!" He spun his head around to see Hinata poking at Kageyama's face, looking all dressed up for a run. He hadn't even said another word before Hinata noticed the green-haired boy staring.

"Oh sorry, not you Yamaguchi. I was referring to Kage- huh! I guess you would be confused when I say 'Yamayama', huh? No worries, just know I only call Kageyama 'Yamayama-kun'!" The green-haired boy was about to correct him that he was never confused in the first place before the raven spoke up.

"And all I'll only call you dumbass from now on? How about that!?" Kageyama said lowly, trying to mask his grogginess. Yamaguchi didn't expect Hinata to just stick his tongue out at him, he full-on expected for them to start roughhousing. Perhaps it was the lieutenants' stirring from their own shut-eye that stopped them.

"Whatever you say, Yamayama. I'll be off on our regular route then!" And with that, Hinata was out the doors. Kageyama grumbled a quick 'oh no you don't' before taking his toiletries and slamming the bathroom door shut.

"Gosh, I'll never be able to sleep in with them around..." remarked Tsukishima, not moving a muscle. After all this, the corners of Yamaguchi's mouth perked up a little, and the pain in his chest was replaced with warmth.

* * *

"Look, you wanted the two lieutenants out, sure, I'm perfectly fine with that! But me too?! You have gotta be kidding me!!" 

"You have nothing to worry about, Tanaka, it's only for this first trip. You'll just be there to see if you can get anyone out of a tight situation! Kind of like what Suga was talking about with Yamaguchi, remember?" Daichi assured him. This only riled up the captain even more.

"I do remember! I also remember me saying that Yamaguchi can get himself out of danger when he needs to! If I'm there to babysit him, he won't learn!" At that, it was Sugawara's turn to slam the table.

"Is that what this is to you?! 'Babysitting'?! Well, I'm sorry great Captain of the Guard, but as I've said before, Yamaguchi is nowhere near your level and might not know how to properly save himself!! You want him to grow through adversity, fine!! But not right now! Not when we're still unsure of how effective this team is gonna be!! Do you understand?!" The prime minister looked ready to throw a potion out of his bag, Tanaka shrinking away in fear. 

"T-that's not what I meant! I mean, yea, I want Yamaguchi to grow, but-"

" **But what?** "

"But... um... but the troops! The guard already lost their general and vice-captain, if the captain is gone too, who'll keep'em in line?" Tanaka mustered. Ennoshita shut him down immediately.

"I'll handle the guards for the whole duration you're gone. Again, we're only asking you to accompany them for one trip. Just. One."

"But that's the thing! What if this one trip is the one that kills me?!"

"Are you saying you're easy to kill?" Michimiya countered with a raised brow and a smirk, seizing the opportunity.

"NO!! NO WAY!! No, I mean... I mean-"

Then, Kiyoko cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention.

* * *

"CAPTAIN!!!" Hinata yelled.

"HINATA!!!" Tanaka yelled back. They both had these massive smiles as the captain ruffled his recruit's hair. Tsukishima massaged his ears and watched from the side as the two lieutenants hastily moved his bags in and prepared his mattress.

"Great, another babysitter, and this one's noisy too," the blond remarked. Kinoshita and Narita immediately dropped what they were doing and moved to hold the captain back, and they were almost too late. Tanaka resolved to curse his mouth out instead.

"It'll be an honour to fight beside you, sir," greeted Yamaguchi respectfully, giving him a salute.

"May I ask why you're here, captain? I thought Kinoshita and Narita's presence would be enough supervision," asked Kageyama curiously. While Hinata berated 'Yamayama' for having no tact, Tanaka dove into this heartfelt speech about how he couldn't stand the thought of his troops risking their lives, going into battle while he cowardly stayed behind the wall. He would never forgive himself if one of them had perished on the line of duty, if they came home gravely injured or if they were caught by the enemy or-

"Lady Kiyoko promised you dinner, didn't she?" Asked Kinoshita.

"SHE DID!! AH!! LADY KIYOKO~"

* * *

**Night 5**

There were no nightmares for Hinata this time. Instead, there was only peaceful, quiet sleep until his body clock told him to get up. Yawning softly, he looked at the wall clock: 4:45 a.m. He looked to his left and saw Kageyama rubbing his eyes, also getting up. The two stared at each other in the darkness, doing their best to make out the other's features. Slowly, Hinata's hand made its way to his toiletries bag. Kageyama's hand did the same. Kageyama slowly stood up. Hinata did the same. They both turned around simultaneously and then-

BAM!

The two of them were stuck at the bathroom door, each trying to squeeze past the other. A whisper-yelled argument broke out, a mixture of 'I was here first' and 'I was up first' and 'No, I was' filled their little space between them and the bathroom. Ultimately, Kageyama won out by using his body strength to shove Hinata onto the floor and quickly locked the door behind him. Hinata was about to release a string of 'Yamayama appropriate insults' before Tanaka's voice was heard.

"Are you two always this active in the morning?" He asked softly.

"You get used to it," replied Tsukishima in a similar volume.

* * *

Sugawara was dreading his itchy unwashed cloak. He swore this would be the last time he asked Mr Takeda advice on disguises. Still, it got him where he needed to be without drawing attention to himself and his modest fruit basket, so that was a plus.

He arrived in front of a small grey concrete shack with boarded-up openings in the wall as windows and a flimsy excuse for a door. He questioned why his friend would ever subject himself to such misery. Sugawara knocked gently in fear of destroying what little protection the door offered but received no response.

"Hey, I know you're in there. I'll just drop off the fruit in front of the door like usual, yea?" When he received no response, he continued.

"The Karasuno Guard has been making some big moves recently. We've assembled a scouting team to finally establish some form of contact with other kingdoms. In fact, the council's gonna be watching them live via my long-distance projection potions! I'll just drop off a vial here with the fruit, y'know, in case you wanted to watch too..." He paused, only to be met with silence again.

"By the way, Tanaka threw a fuss about us not leaving him behind here to watch the guard. Said he didn't want them to lose their captain too after losing their general and vice-captain in one go. So... I'll just say the same thing again. Please, come back. The guards need their general. The council needs you back."

...

"Just... watch the new team, okay? Maybe they'll change your mind." And with that, the prime minister departed. Behind him, he could hear the door creak open but when he turned back to see, it slammed shut, the basket and potion gone too. Sugawara could only sigh and continue on his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really just a filler chapter before the first Seijoh incursion, so hopefully, you guys don't mind it too much. Hope you enjoyed it as well!


	11. To Seijoh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's start 2021 right by FINALLY bringing the boys to Seijoh.

The sky was a light blue hue as the sun peeped its head over the training grounds. Dewdrops hung off the leaves on the trees and blades of grass, the latter ones only being disturbed when two certain rookie guards accelerated through the fields. 

At certain points in time, Kageyama would pull ahead. Then, Hinata would pass him in a burst of speed. On average, though, they were neck and neck for the whole route. And yet, there would be a winner every time... who it was was subjected to a furious and sometimes physical debate between the two.

"I definitely won that time!" Hinata would declare.

"No you didn't, dumbass!" Kageyama would retort.

However, today was special. The two guards sat down to catch their breath, gulping down their water bottles. There was no argument this morning, not when their minds were somewhere else, or rather, something else that was happening today.

"Today's the day, Kageyama," said Hinata in between pants.

"Yea..." Kageyama mustered. He wasn't sure whether to be Hinata-levels of excited or 'I just insulted Tanaka' levels of dread (the latter somehow did not apply to Tsukishima). He went through the possibilities in his head again. Roaring cheers and thunderous applause as the rest welcomed them home from their success? Or roaring cheers and thunderous applause at his expulsion? Not to mention, he might run into Kindaichi and Kunimi again, or maybe even **him**. 

He quickly shook his thoughts about Seijoh away, trying to focus on what he will do when he gets there. Surely, the best course of action was to just follow Tanaka's, Kinoshita's, or Narita's orders the whole time, right? But what if he got separated? Perhaps then he'd let * _shiver_ * Tsukishima take the lead. But then what if Hinata and/or Yamaguchi were by his side and looked to him for guidance? What will he do then? He'd have to give orders again... wait, that's it! He'll just give one or two orders or any number less than five. That way, he'll minimise the chances of scolding them too much. Yeah...

"Yamayama, whatcha thinking about?" asked Hinata suddenly, face right up in front of his. Kageyama shrunk back startled while shoving the tangerine's curious face away. As Hinata complained about how much his cheeks hurt now, Kageyama started thinking about him, thinking about how nice his company had felt, how their competitive races have reignited that prideful spark in himself, how nice it was just to talk to him, even if it was an argument. If Kageyama were being completely 100% honest, he wouldn't mind it all that much if that was all they ever did for the rest of their lives... _nope! Stop thinking about the stupid tangerine, Tobio!_

* * *

"Alright, are you all ready?" Asked Sugawara.

"Yes sir!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Really? You sure?" he asked again.

"Yes sir!" replied Yamaguchi.

"Reeeaaaalllly? 'Cause, we can pull you guys out now if you wanted-"

"YES SIR!" yelled Tanaka. Sugawara sighed, catching the amused look on Daichi's face beside him.

"Okay, so we're doing this. Mr Takeda, the floor is yours," the prime minister announced. The secretary-general nodded and stepped up onto the stage, the seven guards present before him. Behind the team, the rest of the council were seated in the benches in the hall, looking on eagerly. Mr Takeda wiped his sweat and cleared his throat.

"I will now announce the first official operation of the Karasuno Scouting Team. Members?"

"YES SIR!" They all responded (Tsukki at a much lower volume).

"Your first mission shall be to covertly make your way to the outskirts of the Kingdom of Seijoh. Then, you will sneak past the walls if your captain deems it possible. Your main goal is to gather as much information as you can on any sort of invasion plan, find out what those two Seijoh guards were doing in our kingdom, and observe and learn as many new combat techniques as you can."

"SIR, YES SIR!" Sugawara stepped up beside Takeda.

"Now, Prime Minister Sugawara will give you a tracking potion. It will allow us to locate you on a map all the way from this hall. The range should be enough to cover Seijoh, any further and we're cut off. It also only lasts for two days at most so do not take too long." While Suga gave them each a vial to drink, Ennoshita stepped onto the stage next, a small box in his hands.

"Next, Crown Prince Ennoshita will give you some communications devices, each. There's an earpiece disguised as an earring and a necklace for you to speak into. Both were enchanted with Sugawara's tracking potions for reach. Keep them on you at all times," warned Takeda sternly. Hinata tested the devices by saying a cheery 'hello' into the necklace, and once the others confirmed they could hear each other too, Takeda moved on.

"Princess Michimya shall now hand the supply bags to you. There is one for each of you with provisions and various tools that you might need. Again, we don't expect you to take long but in the case of an emergency, those supplies should last a week to buy us time to send a relief force."

_If an emergency is severe enough to stumble the Captain of the Guard himself, what good is a relief force of weaklings?_ thought Tsukishima, knowing better than to say it out loud now.

"Now, let me run you guys through some notable guards in Seijoh. Listen closely, 'cause some of these guys are a real pain to deal with. First, we have..." Hinata found himself paying only half attention to Suga's introductions. It wasn't because he didn't like Suga. Quite the opposite! He loved Suga! It's just... he wasn't a fan of long, dry introductions of people he hasn't met yet. One intro? Fine! But any number over five was going out the other ear. After what seemed like forever to Hinata, Sugawara finally wrapped up his lecture.

"We have a lot riding on this first operation. If you at least complete one of your goals, we'd consider it a success and look into expanding this team," then, Takeda's face darkened. "However, if not a single goal is completed, we will disband this team immediately upon your return."

_IF we even return,_ thought a nervous Yamaguchi.

"With that out of the way, go forth, now, brave soldiers of Karasuno! Go and bring home the victory!" Takeda proclaimed. The team gave their salutes while Daichi tried to hold back a snicker.

_Isn't that a bit too cheesy and overdramatic, Mr Takeda? Jeez..._

* * *

"WOOHOO! WE'RE GOING ON A MISSION!"

"Dumbass Hinata! Stop yelling! There could be Seijoh scouts nearby!"

"Well, I'll stop yelling when you stop shouting at me!"

"Dumbass!"

"Moron!"

"Enough you two. We're close," ordered Tanaka. The two rookies were stunned by the use of his stern, commander's voice this time. Then again, there was a lot at stake.

The seven were flying close to the ground through the forest. Hinata refused to fly any higher than two meters above ground due to inexperience with a broom, and Narita suggested that flying high might attract attention anyway, so the team was trading speed for stealth as they wound their way through the curtain of oaks, cypress, and plane trees. Still, Hinata would complain about getting snagged by the occasional bush while Tsukishima would groan on about the weight of the bags, Kinoshita rebuffing him with the prospect of walking instead, so the trip wasn't without noise. 

Still, despite the chattering and bickering, there would be moments of quiet where it was just them and the birdsong. When the team would stop for a water break, they would sit back and enjoy the rattling of squirrels and the clicking of cicadas. The scent of wildflowers lured Hinata to pick some of them as 'souvenirs for the trip' even though a) they weren't even at the kingdom yet and b) the flowers would die by the time they got back.

Simply put, being surrounded by the ethereal beauty of nature was new to all of them, even Tanaka, and they were loving every second of it (minus the bush splinters).

But that is exactly what Seijoh wanted you to feel.

The Kingdom of Seijoh, home to users of plant magic. The forest, or at least the half closer to them, was their domain. Tanaka had heard tales about how diverse the plantlife was in the immediate area outside the Seijoh walls, how the kingdom itself coexisted with the forest. And the guards? They were as unique as the very species of plant their fighting styles emulated. Some controlled walls of briar thorns, some shot bolts of sharp pine needles, some reflected incoming projectiles like a raindrop bouncing off a leaf. Tsukishima had made it his own personal mission to remind the rest of the dangers of plant magic every time they stopped to admire the forest's beauty.

As they got closer and closer to their destination, Kageyama began feeling more and more pain in his chest, like being near the kingdom broke his heart. Was it because he had memories of this place? Kageyama thought as much as he massaged his chest, doing his best to push thoughts of Kindaichi and Kunimi out of the way.

It was made much easier when Hinata began puking.

Apparently, the boy wasn't as enthusiastic as he had been earlier now that the reality of where they were going truly sank in for him, and his new-found anxiety was causing him to vomit out whatever he had for breakfast. The first time he did it was on the crow skull attached to Tanaka's broom, prompting the captain to mourn the 'sacrilegious act done upon his baby'. 

Everyone did the best they could to calm Hinata's nerves. Kinoshita and Narita gave him generic but true words of encouragement, such as 'you're so brave' and 'come on, you know you can do this'. Didn't help, especially when Hinata felt like he stood out like a sore thumb amongst the more experienced guards. Yamaguchi tried giving him a small piece of gum to chew on but he vomited that one out too. Tsukishima would rather die than compliment Hinata, so he was no help, and Tanaka was too busy cleaning his 'baby'. So it was up to Kageyama... oh no.

"Oi, dumbass, what're you so worried about?" He began. Hinata looked at him, fear in his eyes.

_Why is his face so intense?!_ Hinata thought, frozen at the sight of a pissed-off Kageyama. He clutched his stomach, feeling another onslaught coming.

"W-why is your f-face so scary- _hurgh_!" Hinata covered his mouth, desperately trying to hold the flood back while Kageyama began emitting a more frightening aura over the tangerine.

" **Excuse me?! I was born with this face,** " he replied threateningly. And with that, Hinata couldn't hold it in anymore. He dove behind a bush, choosing to spare his comrades from the sight. Meanwhile, Kageyama calmed himself down and began racking his brain for the right thing to say.

_He's nervous, huh? ... That means he's in the same pit as me. Except... I'm scared of what I remember and he's scared of... the importance? The danger? We all know this mission would be both of those, but I guess the dumbass didn't realise just how much danger we're really putting ourselves in. Not to mention, it's his first-ever mission, any rookie would get the nerves. Hmmm, think Tobio, what would you say to someone nervous on their first mission..._

_"Kageyama Tobio, right?"_

_"Yes sir."_

_"Boy, you really are a kid of few words. Eh, that's fine. Starting today, I'll be your commanding officer, so just follow my orders, 'kay?"_

_"... Yes sir."_

_"Are you nervous? This is your first mission, after all."_

_"..."_

_"Eh, I'll take that as a 'yes'. Well, I really don't know how else to put it to ya but... don't be nervous! You've got your squadmates, you've got medics aplenty, and most importantly-_

"You've got me." Everyone was staring at the raven-head like he actually had a raven's head. Even Hinata, who stood up from behind the bush to stare at the archer mage. Ignoring the weird looks, Kageyama approached the boy.

"What're you so nervous about? Sure, this is your first time but you've got two other rookies, two lieutenants, and even Captain Tanaka himself," he continued. Then, he knelt down, getting right up into the tangerine's face, his piercing blue eyes staring right into Hinata's brown ones. "And you've got me..."

"Don't worry. **So long as I'm here, you're invincible**."

The rest of the team continued staring at Kageyama, awestruck. Since when did Kageyama sound so cool?! Hinata blinked, processing the words just said to him. He remembered the brawl at his house and the initiation fight. Both times he had managed to deflect Kageyama's shots, and both times they inflicted heavy damage. Even if the outcome of those fights were not ideal, Hinata wasn't stupid. What he and Kageyama did those two times was nothing short of impressive. And now that the archer mage himself was at eye-level with him, speaking out those words, his stomach pains began letting up, his mind becoming slightly more clear. There was no reason to question such overwhelming confidence.

The corners of Hinata's lips began curling up. Then, the rest of his mouth followed suit. His once pained frown had morphed into a determined smile. How else would he get justice for his family? How else was he gonna become the best? At this point, he just needed to power through whatever came next. Staring straight back into Kageyama's confident gaze, he put on his own determined look.

"Yea... whatever you say, Kageyama."

* * *

"You do know attaching recording equipment onto an individual without their permission is against the law, right?" Ennoshita asked Sugawara.

"Yea, but that's the only way to watch their genuine behaviours. This is as new to us as it is to them, so I want to catch every detail of how they handle this," replied Suga, flashing a mischievous grin at the crown prince.

"But-"

"I'll allow it," said Daichi, waving Ennoshita off. The king's eyes were glued intensely at the screen of smoke, the live feed from secret devices implanted in their armour playing on it. 

"Kageyama seemed more mature right there. He really managed to get Hinata up and pumping again," remarked Michimiya.

"They're going to need that energy. After all, look where they've arrived at!" Takeda exclaimed, pointing at the screen. The other council members didn't even look away from the screen as they too saw what Takeda was pointing at.

The team had arrived at the walls of Seijoh.

* * *

"The patterns on it are so beautiful! I almost thought those vines on the wall were real," commented Yamaguchi.

"Tsk, who'd be so extra to paint on the outer walls? The moment an invasion comes, the murals are finished," Tsukishima critiqued.

"Alright, now we really have to keep our voices down. We were lucky the border guards don't patrol the forest actively, but these are the wall guards! We alert even one of them and the whole kingdom could go into crisis mode," explained Tanaka. Hearing approaching footsteps of the guards above them, the team retreated quickly back into a part of the forest close by one of the gates.

Kinoshita suggested hiding their supplies all in one spot for ease of access and also to act as a rallying point but Narita feared the Seijoh guards discovering their little nest-egg. The team was about equally split between the two sides, with Tanaka being the tiebreaker. He ended up suggested a compromise to leave someone close by to guard their supplies from a safe distance, and the first person to volunteer was none other than Yamaguchi Tadashi.

"You sure about this, Yamaguchi?" asked Tsukishima, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Eh, I'll be fine. I won't engage, don't worry!" He assured him. With one last reaffirmation from Tanaka, the team split up into two groups of three: Hinata, Kageyama, and Kinoshita in one and Tanaka, Narita and Tsukishima in the other. Yamaguchi bid them farewell (Hinata insisting they're not getting sent off to their deaths) and watched as his comrades took the supplies they needed and split off, leaving him all alone to watch over their stuff from a bush.

* * *

"So, how do we get in? Are we gonna scale the walls? Ooh, or are we gonna infiltrate with disguises?!" asked Hinata, bouncing with anticipation. After getting furiously hushed by Kageyama, Kinoshita presented the cloaks he'd been carrying.

"Cloaks of invisibility, a joint effort between the prime minister's potions and the crown prince's material research," said the lieutenant as they put them on. Sure enough, Kageyama and Kinoshita disappeared from Hinata's line of sight.

"Hello? Kinoshita, Kageyama, are you guys still there?" Hinata asked into his necklace.

"Yea, we're still here, don't worry. Just follow my instructions, okay?" ordered Kinoshita. The three snuck past the guards at the gate and were met with an expanse of green grass and small huts.

"Alright, let's head over to that flower field right by that teal-coloured house. See it?"

"Yes."

"Yes sir!"

"Also, keep it down, Hinata. These cloaks can mask our bodies but can't hide our voices. Whisper and only speak when necessary, alright?"

"Mhm," whispered Hinata in response.

The three made their way to the field, carefully moving through it downwind and making sure they covered their tracks behind them. It'd be quite obvious three hidden figures were moving through the flowers had the flowers also not have been moving with the breeze. After another roll call, Kinoshita gave the order to split off individually and cover more ground, and to meet back at the tree in the flower field that was right by the wall. With that, the three went their separate ways (not that they could see each other).

Hinata found himself enraptured by the bustling little village by the wall. Wasn't it dangerous to live so close to an enemy's first landing point? Still, the concrete buildings resembled those back in his hometown in the Yukiga Fields, only these were mostly coloured teal or white with properly shingled roofs. Besides a few dirt marks on the walls, it seemed the economic situation of such a small village was much better than what it was in Karasuno. 

Hinata was careful to avoid the running kids as he treaded along the dirt path. Looking around, he saw men and women hanging their laundry out, chatting in the shade, and steaming something on top of fires. He sniffed the air, taking in the smell. _Mmmmm... pork buns_. 

To his right, children were giving each other flower crowns. Some were even arranging the flowers by colour and jumping around, occasionally picking one up, which caused the others to laugh. Some sort of game, perhaps? It looked fun to play, Hinata wanted to go over and watch them so badly, but he quietly slapped himself, telling himself he had a mission to do. Still, he felt that this wasn't all that different from the outskirts of Karasuno. Sure, the houses were a bit nicer and the culture still felt unique, but everything else, the chores, the interactions, some of the food even, seemed to be shared among the two kingdoms. And then he saw it.

On the horizon was a hill. And on that hill stood a bright white building. If Hinata had to guess, the whole thing was probably made of marble. The roof was supported by many turquoise-coloured pillars, with the main cuboid-shaped structure with the walls and entrance placed inside. Hinata walked over to the left, careful to avoid passerby and observed that the whole building was long, something he couldn't really tell from the front. Considering its position at the very top of the hill, Hinata concluded that it had to be the royal palace of Seijoh. He scoured his memories, trying to recall what Tanaka had called it. _Ah, right!_

**Aoi Hana**.

Similar-shaped buildings were littered across the hill. In fact, the hill itself looked like it had been dug into to create flat spaces for these buildings to rest upon. Still, there was an obvious slope and a white staircase that went directly through the middle of the capital hill, it ending at the palace, sort of like a corridor with many doors to the sides and one final door at the end.

Furthermore, there was an abundance of plant life. Tall oaks stood by the buildings. Whole Zelkova trees occupied flat ground on the hill that would've been for a building. Lines of green going around or down the pillars of structures showed vines growing. Not to mention the various flower patches visible, giving the whole spots of green a vibrant multicoloured palette. It truly was a breathtaking sight. Could Seijoh be... perfect?

Suddenly, shouts could be heard from behind him. When Hinata turned around, a man was running straight towards him. He held a beautiful, expensive-looking ceramic vase in his arms, an old woman behind yelling at him desperately to stop. _Ah, there's the unrest_ , thought Hinata cynically. He was so distracted by his own thoughts, however, that he reacted too late and the thief collided with him. _CRAP!_

Hinata held onto his cloak tightly, choosing to bear the pain of a rough landing on his rear than expose himself. He curled up as he crashed, hoping the cloak's effects were still working. The thief had fallen forward, seemingly tripping over nothing to bystanders, and the vase was sent flying. Without thinking, Hinata reached out to grab it, saving it right before it hit the ground. Then, he realised how this must've looked to other people. _AH! CRAP!_

He immediately let go of the decoration, it landing safely on the ground with a soft _clink_. Hinata quickly retracted his hands and dove behind a wall, watching the old lady run over to the vase, clearly out of breath. Some bystanders were trying to hold the thief down while others rushed to the lady's side. She was clutching the vase tightly, shouting into the sky.

"Oh, thank the heavens! Thank you! Thank you for saving my husband's vase!" The lady began to descend fully onto the ground, muttering more words of gratitude. Hinata breathed a huge sigh of relief. So apparently to everyone, the lady's vase was either really durable or fate had shown its hand, and Hinata could not have been more grateful. In fact, he might start believing in the same faith of these people, seeing how it took a miracle for him not to get discovered.

Suddenly, more yells erupted. The thief had pulled a knife on one of the bystanders, freeing himself from the now fearful crowd. The lady he stabbed was lying on the dirt, screaming as she clutched at her abdomen. The thief stood up, spinning around, pointing the knife threateningly at whoever was in his line of sight. _Dammit, what do I do?! I don't think I'll pass as the gods helping if I tackle him. But I can't just stand here like this. Um. UM!_

Fully focused on doing whatever to try and help, Hinata picked up a rock by his feet and threw it at the thief. It hit the guy in the forehead, causing him to yell out in pain and drop his knife. _Perfect! Now it's safe for everyone to hold him again. Wait... why is no one doing anything?! Why are they all just standing there?! He's perfectly unarmed and everything! Why-_ and it was then that Hinata saw why.

Stumbling backwards in confusion and agony, the thief hit an approaching palanquin. The servants carrying said palanquin had apparently exclaimed their arrival many times, but the ruckus masked it from Hinata. Why they did not stop was beyond him. A man with neatly kept light caramel brown hair and swishy bangs emerged from behind the palanquin. In his hands was a staff with a glistening opal embedded in the tip.

"Who dares disturb the arrival of the great prime minister?!" He exclaimed. By now, the servants had set the palanquin down, and from it emerged an intimidating man with dark, spiked-up hair. He had a broad, muscular build beneath the armour he wore and his steps shook the ground they stood on (metaphorically of course). But most intimidating of all was his gaze. They were slanted up as if the man was perpetually angry, and his thick eyebrows only emphasised it.

"What is going on here?" He asked. The man wasn't yelling, neither did he raise his voice, but he may as well have because it was a booming voice that echoed throughout the open space, reminding Hinata of Daichi's voice. Everyone knelt down respectfully, calling him 'the esteemed prime minister' and whatnot while the man had his arms on his hips. The man with the staff went up to the prime minister after quickly gathering some statements from the people.

"It seems this man stole a lady's vase and stabbed another woman in the abdomen, sir," he informed. The servants carrying the palanquin also confirmed this story. The man muttered a stern 'I see' before turning to the thief, now on his knees.

"Is what they said, true?" He asked.

"S-sir, I am d-deeply sorry- I- I- hadn't been paid yet and-"

" **Is what they said, true?** " The man asked again, raising his voice.

"..."

" **WELL?!** "

"... Y-yes, s-sir."

"Very well, stand up." The thief obliged but remained in a bowing position, seemingly hoping he had just been spared. However, there was a menacing look in the man's eyes which told Hinata the thief wouldn't be seeing the light of day very soon.

"Then by the power vested in me and by the law of this kingdom, I, Iwaizumi Hajime, declare your immediate execution." The man, Iwaizumi, then took out his sword, its blade tinted green with a black hilt. Hinata watched in horror as the prime minister thrust his sword straight through the man's abdomen. And as if that wasn't enough, thorns made of magic energy shot out of the thief's body, flying out in all directions, leaving behind gaping holes everywhere, the most gruesome of which flew out from the top of his skull and through his eyes and mouth.

As the criminal collapsed in a bloody mess, the prime minister kept his sword away and waved away the servants with his palanquin. The man with the staff remained by his side and helped usher everyone away. But what disturbed Hinata the most was how everyone simply complied and went back to their tasks without saying another word. Although the look in their eyes showed they were indeed a bit shaken up, after a while, they had settled and seemingly moved on as if a public execution did not just take place. Hinata took one more look at Prime Minister Iwaizumi's imposing figure before deciding to not move from where he was at the wall, silently chuckling to himself.

_Oh... I'm in serious danger..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a few chapters already written up, so there should be consistent updates for the rest of the month. Happy belated new year everyone!


	12. Seijoh (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> College is now in full swing for me and I have continuous assessments for my last semester, so the updates may start to get sporadic. I do still have plenty of chapters saved up though so we'll see.

Kageyama picked a sort of scenic route when he split off from his group, choosing to explore an expansive country field with the sight of the palace in the distance, mainly trying to avoid a crowd. Still, the landscaped vistas reflecting off of his irises stirred something inside of him.

_Hey! Kageyama! You here to play again?!_

Kageyama shook the voice away, convinced that the scent of the flowers was getting to him. He continued wandering, setting the vague goal of reaching a town, wherever the next one was. The sound of children yelling and laughing caught his attention, and immediately, he went to investigate.

Over by a patch of poppies was a group of four children. Two were using what seemed to be old shields as sledges to race down the hill while the other two cheered them on. Kageyama cracked a rarely seen smile, after all, who could still frown at such an innocent sight?

_Woah, Kageyama, chill. It's just a game._

_Ah! Stupid voice! You're ruining the scene!_ Kageyama shook his head again. The archer continued to watch as the children's little race slowly evolved into a contest of magic. One of them pulled out a magic vine whip to lightly whack his opponent. They didn't go down without a fight either, one using what seemed to be a magic root extending from their leg to trip up Mr 'I have a whip. What do you have?'. Kageyama let out a little chuckle, already a lot more emotion than he was usually comfortable with.

Suddenly remembering the mission at hand, the raven-head was about to let the kids continue, before wondering if they'd have any information worth asking for. On one hand, of course not! They're kids! On the other, it wouldn't hurt to ask, right? Kids probably wouldn't suspect him of being a foreigner, especially if he concealed anything that could give himself away. Even if he did get nothing out of them, they'd probably be too engrossed in their game to really think about their conversation, right? That's how kids were, right?

_You're so scary Tobio-chan! How can you learn so fast?!_

Tucking his necklace underneath his shirt behind his breastplate, he let down his hood, making extra sure to conceal any engravings of the Karasuno crest. Then, he made his way to the playing children, who were in the middle of switching racers.

"Uh... hey?" He began, silently scolding himself. _Wow, what a great way to start a conversation, Tobio!_ You'd probably think he just told the kids that he was actually Santa Claus (is there even a Santa in this world?) judging by the weird and confused looks they gave him.

"Um... who are you?" Asked one of the kids. Kageyama was about to answer reflexively with his name but figured that wasn't a good idea, so he put his thinking face on. This made the kids squirm, and they began to scoot away, much to the confusion of Kageyama.

"Hey? What's wrong?"

"Sc-scary! Monster!"

"Monster? Where?" Kageyama wondered, looking around to try and spot this monster before whatever gears were left in his innocent little brain began turning and realising that the 'monster' was in fact, him.

"Hey! No! I'm not a monster! It's just my face!" _Still not reassuring, Tobio!_ The young ones still looked like they wanted to book it out of there or worse, about to call for their parents, so Kageyama took a deep breath while covering his face, imagining himself calming down from a snarky remark from Hinata (he usually didn't and would pick up his fellow guard by the skull but no one was sweating the details).

"Look, I just wanted to know if any of you has heard of... I don't know... something happening with the Seijoh Guard?" He asked. The children still looked hesitant but one boy spoke up.

"Why? What's wrong with the guards?" asked the little guy. _Hmmm, doesn't sound promising._

"I don't know... um... they... seem a bit on edge lately! Yea, that!" _Stupid Tobio did you just say that last part out loud?!_

"Hmmm, a lot more guards have been patrolling outside my house lately..." one of the girls said. _She seems a bit older than the others so maybe she has more to say._

"Oh! I know!" the other little girl in the group piped up. Kageyama's head spun towards her, anticipation clear in his eyes.

"They must be working hard to catch more bad guys!" _And just like that my hope in kids has been crushed. Congratulations Tobio, you've wasted your time. I should've seen this coming!_

"Gee, thanks," he responded sarcastically. _Could these kids even understand sarcasm?_ He wondered. He was just about to leave them be before the last boy made a comment that caught his attention.

"Well, my uncle has been very busy lately. Said the guards were giving him headaches like the dramatic guy he is," he said, rolling his eyes. "Does that help you, mister?"

"I'm sorry... what? Your uncle?"

"Yea. He's been so busy that he barely has time for me anymore. It's why I'm here instead of the palace! Every time I ask him to play with me he just waves me off calling me a 'brat' and stuff and-"

"... Your uncle sounds like someone... important..." Kageyama remarked. _Was his uncle the Captain of the Guard? The Commanding General? Could he be... the prime minister?_

"Yea! Takeru's uncle is usually so overbearing but we haven't seen him in like... a month," chimed the older girl, who took the time to count out a month on her fingers.

"... Your name is Takeru?" _I... don't remember him... at all... who could he be?_

"Yea. What about it?" _Hmmm, people old enough to be his uncle... could it be... Mr... dammit! Nobody's names are coming to mind! Come on, Tobio! Think! Who-_

"... What's your last name?" 

"Oh, um, Oikawa. Why?"

* * *

_"Iwaizumi Hajime, 25, prime minister and Commanding General of the Seijoh military. Not much is known about the full power of his cactus magic, but considering his titles, avoid him at all costs!"_

_And you only bother coming up now, vague memory of Suga's voice?! A bit too late for that!_

Hinata was really feeling the urge to take a bathroom break. Dangit, why didn't he listen to Lieutenant Narita and went before he entered? Why did his bladder have to act up when the prime minister of Seijoh just executed someone in cold blood right in front of him! Why did watch?! Why didn't he run the moment the palanquin arrived?! Why was the prime minister in this run-down little town anyway?! In fact, what was he still doing here?!

"U-um, Lieutenant Kinoshita, sir? Kageyama? Anyone there?" He whispered into his necklace. "I have a problem..."

No response... crap.

Hinata peeped out of his little hiding spot, witnessing the servants who carried the palanquin hauling the body off somewhere while the prime minister and his guard(?) followed the old vase lady to her home. Great! This was the perfect time to escape!

Dashing away with his tail between his legs, Hinata felt like he was back in the Karasuno marketplace, escaping some angry vendor whom he stole a pork bun from. Speaking of pork buns, the smell of the Seijoh pork buns in this village was really tempting...

_Focus! Shouyou! Just head towards the tree Lieutenant Kinoshita said to wait under! When one of them comes back, we'll decide what to do about the mission-_

_THE MISSION!_

Hinata stopped in his tracks, right in the middle of the flower field (thank Garasu this wasn't the burial spot of the thief). The actual prime minister of Seijoh was here. He didn't know why he was here, but that didn't matter now, did it? What mattered was that this was a prime opportunity to extract information about a potential invasion or, fingers crossed, the lack of one. If he could just catch that Iwaizumi guy in the middle of rambling or something. Did he seem like the type to ramble? Not really... but he had to at least try! After all, he has an invisibility cloak on! He could probably be right up next to the man and he wouldn't notice!

With a clear goal in mind, Hinata swiftly turned around and headed straight for the old lady's home, carefully avoiding passerby and making too much noise on the dirt path. Soon enough, he arrived and was about to open the door when-

Right! The door! No way was he going to open it! That would be dumb! He'd get caught for sure! Hinata tried pressing his left ear against the door, hoping to make out any conversation. He could definitely hear people talking, but it was all muffled. He could barely hear words, let alone full sentences. Stupid door! Hinata tried pressing his ear against the concrete walls, but they were worse than the wooden door. How was the soundproofing so good? Are they just far away inside?

Then, Hinata caught sight of the windows and did a mental facepalm. Of course! The windows are literal holes! _Gosh Shouyou, can't you be quicker?!_

The rookie stood up straight, trying to get a good look at the people inside. The interior of the little village house was nothing remarkable. There was a worn-down cushion chair with a small wooden table in front of it. The table itself wasn't remarkable in any way either, there weren't any carvings that would make it look like a Seijoh product, just bland and rough with splinters sticking out everywhere. He looked straight ahead and spotted what looked to be a kitchen area. There was a stone table to serve as the countertop holding up pots and baskets of what looked to be spices. Beneath it were a bunch of closed wooden barrels presumably filled with either wine or some stock of fish (would people even eat fish this far inland?). Above the countertop was a shelf that held plates and cups and other wooden utensils, and besides a room that Hinata couldn't see in that was either a bathroom or bedroom, that was virtually the whole house. Hinata thought back to his scruffy little (former) home, surprised at how similar the two were. Well, he didn't have a designated kitchen, but the overall structure and layout of the buildings definitely resembled each other in more ways than one.

Besides a kitchen, Hinata would only ever dream of owning a vase as elegant as the one the old lady had. It sat upon a small table right by the cushioned chair, becoming the only source of vibrant colour in an otherwise plain house. Speaking of the cushioned chair, the old lady seemed hesitant to sit in it, looking at the prime minister while he gently placed himself on the table in front of her, the staff guy looking stern as he stood next to him. It was an odd sight, to be frank. Iwaizumi no longer had a permanent scowl like Kageyama. Instead, his eyes were soft and warm, completely different from the mercilessly cold ones that watched a man die. He was leaning forward too, making his sitting height shorter than the old lady, almost appearing as if he was looking up at her slightly.

"Oh, your excellency, I cannot thank you enough for helping me carry my vase back here! I am honoured to be in your presence. I-" the lady began. Iwaizumi held up his hand to silence her.

"Save it, it was my duty. Please, sit," he motioned. The lady complied after some initial hesitation; the guy with the staff not looking too happy with this seating arrangement.

"Though, I wasn't expecting to execute someone the moment I got here. What has been happening in this village?" Iwaizumi commented.

_Well, even if you weren't expecting it, you did execute someone! So why are you acting all nice now!? Why isn't anyone here at all fazed by someone dying in front of them?!_ though Hinata.

"Oh, your excellency, it's been terrible! Ever since the defeat was announced, people have been getting restless! I think whoever that man was was another poor, desperate soul who's lost his way!" cried the woman. The staff guy (presumably a ranged class mage) lifted an eyebrow and leaned towards Iwaizumi.

"Sir, what does she mean?" He asked softly. Hinata could hear it though, so the old lady probably heard it too. Iwaizumi sighed exhaustedly.

"It seems I have been careless in managing the cabinet ever since last year's skirmish with Shiratorizawa. I didn't know that the new budget affected the countryside so badly..." he remarked. He hung his head low, rubbing his forehead, groaning in frustration. Realisation seemed to dawn on the other mage, his mouth curled into a long 'ohhhhhhhhh'.

_What?! Shiratorizawa? Wasn't that one of the other kingdoms? And what's a b_ _udget? H_ _ow does it affect the countryside? Wait... skirmish? So Seijoh has been engaging in battle! That means Seijoh totally has invasion plans, right?! Wait! NO! What kind of logic is that, Shouyou?! Think!! You've never been good at thinking before, though... WAIT!! NOO! Keep listening!!!_

"Shi- I mean, the king has ordered me to do a full round inspection of the rural areas. It would be a great help if you or anyone else here knew of something similar is happening in the other villages," Iwaizumi suggested. The lady paused in thought for a moment before shaking her head 'no'. The prime minister could only sigh and stand up, thanking the woman for her time and exiting the house... _wait, crap!_

Hinata stood abnormally still while the two people who could end his life in an instant walked past him. He prayed to whatever powers in the sky that Iwaizumi or the other man didn't have the ability to detect invisibility. As if to mock him instead, Iwaizumi suddenly turned and looked in his direction. Hinata let out a soft 'eep' before covering his mouth. 

"Hey, you!" _This is it, Shouyou. This is where you die._

"Yes, you!" _I didn't even get to say goodbye to mom and Natsu! And how 'bout the rest of the team?! What about-_

"Could you gather the village folk again? I need to ask some questions and would like to do it all at once," he declared. _What?_ Hinata looked behind him and saw a man nod before going about, spreading the word that the prime minister had an announcement to make. The orange-haired guard breathed a small sigh of relief, relaxing the tension in his shoulders. He was safe... for now.

* * *

"I'm sorry? What's your last name again?" asked Kageyama. The boy looked up at him incredulously.

"Oikawa! Why?"

"That- That's- Th-"

"Ohhhhhhh, I get it! You didn't expect me to be related to the king! It's okay! I don't spend that much time at the palace so I don't really consider myself royal!"

"But you are though?" one of the girls chimed in. Takeru hushed her, visibly upset.

"My mom said that even though uncle loves me, she and I should stay away from him as much as possible! The few times I was in the castle was because my uncle dragged me there to compliment him. Like, how cringy can he get?" he asserted. Kageyama, meanwhile, was currently going through a mental breakdown. A whole slew of old memories bombarded his brain as he stood there, eyes wide and mouth hung open.

_"Tobio-chan! How's my favourite rookie doing?"_

_"Tobio-chan? Kindaichi said you hurt Kunimi-chan today. What happened?"_

_"Tobio-chan... where did you learn that technique?"_

_"Stop copying me, Tobio!"_

_"I SAID STOP COPYING ME! HOW ARE YOU BETTER AT THIS THAN ME?!"_

_"Are you trying to replace me? Tobio? HUH?! ARE YOU TRYING TO BECOME THE KING?!"_

_"You're not even from here... good. I don't want you in my sight anyway..."_

_"_ **_Get out of my kingdom, Tobio._ ** _"_

"Takeru! It's time to go!" _Wait, I don't remember him saying that... wait..._

"But I wanna stay here!" Footsteps could be heard crunching against the grass. Someone was definitely approaching.

"No 'buts'. We're going back to the palace where it's safe, okay Takeru?" _That voice. That irritatingly sweet, high-pitched voice..._

"Takeru, come on! Let's- wait." _Shit! My cloak!_ Kageyama hastily put on his hood and dove behind the tree the kids were sitting under, hoping to Garasu or whatever gods there were that **he** didn't see him. 

"Takeru... was there someone else besides your little friends here?"

"Uhh," Takeru looked around him and his group. If he was shocked at how Kageyama disappeared without a trace, he didn't show it, because he then continued with, "Nope! Doesn't seem like it! No one else was here!"

"But-" began of the other boys but stopped once he saw the hard glare Takeru was giving him.

"Are you sure? I could've sworn-"

"Nope! Uncle, you're seeing things! Here you go, being paranoid again! But if returning to the palace would calm you down, then let's go!"

"I... did my sister come and try to talk you out of staying with me? Is she hiding here somewhere?"

"No! No! Of course not! I love staying with my favourite Uncle Tooru!" The raven-haired guard then heard soft chuckling in response.

"Awww, you flatter me Takeru! Come on, let's go back."

Kageyama peeped out from behind the tree, feeling a bit safer now that Takeru complimented his uncle. The man standing before the group of kids looked young, maybe in his early to mid-twenties. His hair swept outwards and was a similar colour to his eyes, dark brown. A (sickeningly) smug, broad smile was plastered on his face, no doubt appearing after his nephew fed his ego. He remembered this man. How could he forget? How could he forget the man who looked after him when his sister couldn't? How could he forget the man who got jealous after he practically copied his combat moves? How could he forget the man who exiled him because his magic wasn't plant magic? Then again, in his memories, the man in front of him wasn't a man, he was a young, inexperienced manchild who threw tantrums whenever things didn't go his way. In his memories, the first few months after this man's coronation were the darkest days in his life. And yet here he was, still the king of Seijoh even after all this time, so he must be doing something right! But really, now that the name was in his mind, he would never forget it again. Kageyama swore he would never forget **Oikawa Tooru**. Not this time.

* * *

Yamaguchi had put on his own cloak of invisibility while staking out at their resource pile. Tsukishima insisted it, saying it was to be extra safe, saying 'just because your hair is green doesn't mean you'll blend in with the shrubs', which 'okay Tsukki, I'm not an idiot' was his response. Like, obviously it would make more sense to wear the cloak while guarding the pile. He could even move up close to their little pile and take out a biscuit to munch on once in a while (as quietly as possible, of course).

The boy was more than a bit concerned for his comrades, though. Him knowing Tsukishima from childhood aside, he found that he had grown quite fond of the little orange shrimp that was Hinata Shouyou. His childlike demeanour always tempted to bring out the green-haired guard's own childish side. The side that would join Tsukishima in insulting others. The side that would pick up his broom and fly laps on end, never feeling tired and never feeling the need to look good in front of others. He could crash and burn as many times as he wanted, and no one would be there to judge. 

He also found himself interacting with Kageyama more, realising that the raven-head was just shy at times, like him. Sure, he was still brash and Yamaguchi still couldn't put the 'squad massacre' behind him, but if Kageyama did show genuine change, he wouldn't be surprised if they became good friends in the end. 

And of course, he was worried about Kinoshita and Narita. Without them, there'd be a serious power vacuum in the Karasuno Guard that no other guard could fill competently. Those two needed to stay alive. Finally, there was Captain Tanaka, and-

_Oh! Well speak of the devil, it's Captain Tanaka!_ thought Yamaguchi as he spotted a cloaked figure walking towards their supplies. The man had his hood down, exposing a grey buzz cut that was synonymous with Tanaka. He had his back turned to Yamaguchi as he inspected the supplies, prompting Yamaguchi to call out to him.

"Captain Ta-" he began. it wasn't until the man turned around to face his general direction that Yamaguchi realised his mistake. This guy was of an average height, which was slightly shorter than Tanaka. His build also wasn't as muscular as the captain, being medium build instead. And his eyes, although they appeared to be Tanaka's blue-grey at first, were actually solid grey upon closer inspection. Not to mention, instead of a sword, the man carried a knife. And now that he was facing Yamaguchi, the Karasuno guard noticed that he had long arm braces that covered his forearms to his wrists, clueing him in that he was a reflector class.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" the man exclaimed. Yamaguchi let out a soft squeak as he dove back down in his hiding place, unintentionally rustling some bushes. _Crap! Why am I so clumsy?!_

"This is Lieutenant Watari Shinji of the Kingdom of Seijoh! Your supplies have been discovered, so show yourself now!" He yelled again. Yamaguchi could feel his heart about to burst out of his chest as the sound of rustling bushes got louder and louder, letting him know that the lieutenant was cautiously heading his way. He had his broom hidden with him under the cloak, but flying away at the speed of sound probably wasn't the smart thing to do now.

"Hello? I'm in danger. Will someone please help me? Please?" Yamaguchi whispered into his necklace, praying that the lieutenant didn't hear him.

* * *

_"Oikawa Tooru, 25, the king of Seijoh himself. He's an extremely talented ranged mage that uses rose magic. Do not inhale any of the gas that comes out of his fired rose bolts! They'll put you to sleep in about a minute of regular breathing. And Garasu knows what'll happen if he actually hits you!"_

_Thanks, Mr Suga, but I already know that. I've known for a long time..._

Kageyama wasted no time in running away from the group. _Why did it have to be him? Why did I come back here?! Wait, he's the king... he'll know if there's an invasion- NO! NO TOBIO! He's Oikawa! You should avoid him at all costs!_ Kageyama dashed towards the general direction of the flower field with the rendezvous tree, reasoning (convincing) himself that even if the king wasn't Oikawa, he didn't think sticking so close to the king to get a little bit of intel was a good idea.

_Why wouldn't it be a good idea? He's the king. If I follow him back to the palace, I could maybe steal some important docu- ARE YOU CRAZY TOBIO?! IT'S OIKAWA! O.I.K.A.W.A!!!_

"Whoever you are in the invisibility cloak, show yourself now," demanded a stern voice. Even if it was lower by about an octave, Kageyama knew that voice. He had just heard it. He paused in his tracks.

"Did you really think such a pathetic trick could escape the eyes of a king? Reveal yourself!" Oikawa demanded again. Kageyama could hear the sound of a bow being drawn from behind him.

"Whoever you are, take off whatever is making you invisible and tell me what you said to my nephew," he said. Then, the bow was released and a radiant aqua-coloured bolt of magic energy landed right beside Kageyama, the shape of a rosebud growing on its tail. The guard covered his nose and mouth immediately, remembering the sleep-inducing aroma that emitted off of Oikawa's rose bolt magic.

"There won't be another warning shot... sister, if that's you, reveal yourself now and I will spare you. But know that I will not let go of Takeru!" He ordered, drawing back his bow again. A million scenarios played in Kageyama's mind, but he ultimately saw no other option. Steadily, he lowered his hood.

* * *

Hinata had to sit through a rather boring questioning of the village folk by an increasingly exasperated prime minister. Neither Iwaizumi nor Hinata gained any new information from this village. Sighing (it's what he always seemed to do), Iwaizumi thanked and dismissed the crowd.

"Yahaba, prepare my palanquin. Maybe the other villages will have some new intel." The mage with the staff, Yahaba, gave a nod of compliance before going to get the servants. Hinata knew the best thing to do was 'accompany' the prime minister on his round trips, so off he went to follow Yahaba to the palanquin.

Yahaba went through a small alleyway, seemingly walking faster and faster with each step. Hinata matched this speed with ease, but still had the correct instinct to keep a distance. Or rather, it wasn't really the correct instinct, because as Yahaba took a left turn and disappeared from sight, Hinata suddenly felt himself being pulled backwards, barely registering a strong arm clamping down on his neck.

"Did you seriously think I wouldn't notice? You leave so many tracks that give you away, even with invisibility," said Iwaizumi. He flashed his sword right in front of Hinata's eyes as he pulled him into another alleyway with a dead end.

"Who are you?!" Iwaizumi demanded, releasing Hinata and pointing his sword at him. The Karasuno guard was now trapped on all sides, an armed prime minister in front of him, a relatively tall wall behind him and two house walls to his sides.

"I- I- I..." Hinata mustered, sweating bullets. No other words would come out of his mouth. He didn't need to think hard to realise that the only way to survive now was to stall for time, and the only way to do that is to reveal himself. With a hesitant gulp, he lowered his hood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys like the 'little Suga introductions that he canonically said before but only come up at inopportune times because of plot reasons'? Because they may be how I give a quick rundown of someone's magic from now on, kind of like an actual RPG *cough, cough*.


	13. Seijoh (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! If you've gotten this far, clearly there's something about my story that keeps you invested. So I just wanna say: thank you. Thank you for reading. I'll be swamped in studies as of posting this, so I'll probably run through my supply of pre-written chapters pretty soon. But we'll see, and again, thank you.

It didn't take a genius to tell that Tsukishima would rather be somewhere else than the Seijoh common realm right now, and because of that fact, Tanaka found himself getting irritated at Tsukishima getting irritated, so thank goodness Narita wasn't getting irritated otherwise they'd all be irritated. Did he mention he was irritated?

For example, Tsukishima was walking instead of running, citing 'running would make too much noise' as his argument, so the three were slowed down. Narita made the most of it by diligently eavesdropping on passing conversations, but Tanaka wasn't having it. He argued that they should aim to reach the capital as soon as possible because that's where all the juicy intel is.

"Alright, then our esteemed Captain of the Guard should have no trouble running off without us and getting caught when he inevitably crashes into somebody," was Tsukishima's response. Tanaka was preparing to sock him in the mouth when Narita, ever the peacekeeper, pointed to a horse wagon filled with wheat and barley parked by the side of the road, its driver sitting by on a water break.

"So? It's a wagon," Tsukishima deadpanned.

"Ya saying we should steal it? 'Cause I LOVE that idea! Let's do it!" Tanaka exclaimed softly.

"No, I'm saying we should take advantage of our invisibility, plop ourselves onto that stack of hay, and enjoy a leisurely ride at a decent speed," reasoned Narita. Tanaka pouted and expressed his disappointment in his subordinate (seriously, how was Narita acting more like the captain here) while Tsukishima raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't he notice?"

"We'll just have to be quiet, just like you are being right now," retorted Narita. Due to them being invisible, Tsukishima couldn't see the lieutenant's face. However, his tone said all as it was clearly mocking the blond's own sarcastic comments. Grumbling an inaudible comeback, Tsukishima reluctantly complied.

* * *

The haystack was surprisingly comfortable, with Narita feeling like he could sleep on it fine with only a little grievance regarding stray straw sticks getting caught in his boot. Tanaka resisted the urge to snicker at the poor farmer's comment that the load felt heavier somehow, though his horses didn't look all that bothered. Not to mention, this was indeed faster than walking; Tsukishima reasoning that this farmer was making some sort of delivery, hence the rush.

And rush they were. Soon enough, the trio had arrived in the Seijoh common realm marketplace. The people parted like waves in an ocean to make way for the ship in the form of this wagon. The whole place was broad and open, buildings of varying sizes serving as temples, banks and houses. What deity were they worshipping in those temples? Tanaka had only heard tales of a god of trees, Kukunochi. What Garasu was to Karasuno, Kukunochi was to Seijoh, but why they would worship trees is beyond him. The houses varied in sizes too. Some vendors set up their shops in their homes while others just liked to live right next to the local florist. The banks, however, was the main thing that caught Tanaka's attention.

"Do you think we should convert some currency? Y'know, to buy stuff!" He suggested, the bustling crowd masking their conversation.

"And what could you possibly buy here?" questioned Tsukishima.

"Who knows? Someone could be selling some intel. And if they do, they're probably not gonna accept Karasuno money. And it'd be a shame to let such an opportunity go to waste-"

"You just want to buy something for Lady Kiyoko, don't you?" Narita deadpanned.

"Okay, so I saw this really pretty azure necklace that would bring out her eyes so well and-"

* * *

"Ooh, Karasuno money? That's something you don't see on the exchange these days," the bank teller commented. The trio had lowered their hoods and hid their crests, passing themselves off as merchants engaging in some high stakes trade deal. The guise was mostly Tanaka's idea with Narita meekly playing along and Tsukishima looking as impatient as ever.

"Yeah. Just got back from a major negotiation, ya know? Said something like 'Karasuno money is barely exchanged so its value is higher' or somethin'," Tanaka explained, definitely pulling the story out of his butt. "So, how much is a hundred Khun worth in Lou?"

"Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, sir, but you've been swindled. Because barely anybody buys the Karasuno Khun on the market these days. So... I'm only able to give you... five. Five Seijoh Lou!" The teller revealed. A volcano burst out of Tanaka's head. The disguised captain went off on a tirade about how 'the Khun can't be that worthless!', 'this is such a scam!' and 'now I can't get Lady Kiyoko a special Seijoh necklace'. The teller's look was understanding with a 'customer service' smile as he was under the impression that this was a merchant who just lost a lot of profit and handed the 5 Lou to Narita, who gave the presumably minimum wage worker an apologetic smile. Tsukishima, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of his life, snickering at the captain, which only prompted another tirade. Once again, it was up to Narita to be the babysitter (seriously, he deserves a promotion for having to deal with this).

By the power of prayers to Garasu and sheer determination, the lieutenant somehow managed to get Tanaka out of the bank, a still laughing Tsukishima following close behind. He looked at the 5 Lou in his hand and sighed.

"Well, guess these can be our souvenirs instead," said Narita jokingly. Although the more he thought about it, the Seijoh Lou could probably fetch a better bargain if they went to any other kingdom, so maybe he will actually keep them.

"Uh, nuh-uh! Nada! I am bringing something home for Lady Kiyoko, even if I have to steal it!" Narita and Tsukishima expected the captain to burst out chuckling, saying how he was joking, but the chuckles never came. In fact, Tanaka was now looking around everywhere, trying to spot a stall that sold some jewellery, prompting the lieutenant to gulp and the rookie to sigh.

"... You can't seriously be thinking of stealing something from here, right?" Tsukishima questioned.

"What? We're already criminals by virtue of being here! Plus, the more unrest there is in Seijoh, the better for us back home!"

"That idea is just... reckless, pointless, and will 100% backfire. Almost sounds like a plan that Noy-" began Narita, before a sudden bloodcurdling scream filled the entire marketplace. It was as if time stopped and everyone in the area just froze in place, looking around to identify the source of the scream.

"Wait! Did you hear that?!" Tanaka exclaimed. While Tsukishima sarcastically replied that his ears were rendered deaf long ago by Hinata, Narita pointed towards a lady running at full speed in their direction. More screams erupted from the crowd as Tanaka looked at what seemed to be a circle forming by one of the houses.

"MURDER!! HELP!!" cried one of the bystanders. It didn't take more words to get Tanaka to spring into action.

"Narita, go check on whoever the crowd is surrounding. Tsukishima, with me!" He commanded. Narita nodded while the blond complained about having to run, but they split off accordingly anyway. Narita was almost grinning, thinking 'finally! Tanaka sounds like a captain again!", as he made his way through the distraught bystanders, hoping what little first aid knowledge he had would come in handy.

Meanwhile, Tanaka and Tsukishima sprinted towards the market exit, tailing the lady. Being at the front, Tanaka could now see an obvious knife in the lady's hands, the blood dripping off of it giving the two a clear path for them to follow. However, the woman turned back and saw them chasing her, so she quickly dropped the knife and headed towards the one thing that would slow anyone down: the long staircase towards the palace. Why did she decide that she'd rather climb hundreds of steps up that led to the most heavily guarded place in the kingdom just to attempt to shake off two guards? Probably the adrenaline, and the weight of her crime messing with her thought process. Nevertheless, this was the path she had committed to and it was too late to turn back now.

Her plan partially worked. Tsukishima definitely wasn't as fit as her nor Tanaka to rapidly climb stairs. Tanaka noticed this and quickly instructed Tsukishima to try and find another way up, maybe even try to ambush her from the side if possible. The blond rookie was more than happy to oblige and soon, he disappeared from behind Tanaka.

The Karasuno captain didn't waste time either, shouting 'STOP' over and over again. Like, he knew it wouldn't work, but at least the people around could know he wasn't the killer here. Hopefully, the bloody knife gave it away too.

Soon, the woman was about 50 to 60 steps away from the palace gates, and the palace guards began to take notice. Some exclamations of 'hey! You there! What are you doing?!' made her finally aware of the situation she had gotten herself in. She stopped, trapped on all sides... well, mostly. There were the palace guards in front of her and Tanaka behind her, but not really anyone who would dare fend off an armed woman towards the sides. At this point, Tanaka had drawn out his sword, and the palace guards were slowly making their way down the steps too. Seeing no other option, she dashed to her right, snatching a young girl no older than 7 and holding the knife towards her neck. _Crap!_ Tanaka yelled internally.

"N-not a step closer... drop your weapons or I'll kill her," she threatened. By now, the Seijoh guards had come to where Tanaka was, saying anything they could to try and defuse the situation, but the lady wasn't budging. She slit the neck of the little girl slightly, earning the capital a painful cry, and occasionally pointing the knife at the bystanders and guards, just to dissuade them from coming closer to her.

Seeing no other option at the moment, the guards facing her lowered their staffs, wands and swords, putting them on the ground before lifting their hands like they were the ones who were supposed to be surrendering. Tanaka wasn't so easily moved, but then he saw the blood dripping from the flesh wound on the lass' neck. Then came the tears pouring out of the girl's blue eyes. A man by the sides, presumably the girl's father, was desperately pleading with the lady to let his daughter go. All of that did it for Tanaka, and he too slowly lowered his sword. But the universe wasn't about to let Tanaka relax so quickly.

The moment the tip of Tanaka's sword touched the ground, just before he let go of the hilt, the lady screamed and moved to slice the girl's neck completely.

"NOOOOOOO!!" yelled Tanaka, quickly firming his grip on his sword and summoned a large grey slash with orange edges aimed straight for the lady's chest. Although he didn't do it deliberately, which was a huge oversight that future Tanaka would grieve over, the slash, fortunately, hit the woman right above the little girl's head, avoiding collateral injuries. It did its job; the slash stunned the lady, making her drop her knife and release the girl. The little lass immediately ran to her father crying, a hand covering her still-bleeding wound, and collapsed into his arms.

Before the Seijoh guards could act further, however, another slash came flying in, this time from behind the lady. It was pink in colour and had white edges. Its shape wasn't in the traditional curved or straight shape associated with typical sword slashes. Instead, it had jagged edges, and the moment it collided with the woman's back, she froze.

Tanaka's slash didn't really do much beyond giving the would-be, possibly already guilty, murderer a nice slashing wound that stretched across her chest. The slash from the back, however, besides injuring her, also seemed to paralyse her. Her voice had completely died out, and she collapsed forward onto the ground. Tanaka caught sight of a branching plant with white flowers that grew(?) out of the lady's spine, before it disappeared into small bright flakes in the air, showing it was made of magic energy.

A tall man with pink-brown short-cropped hair stood behind the lady. He had slightly beady eyes and short, slim eyebrows that rested on his forehead. He looked really upset as he stared down at the woman before moving to turn her around. Besides the sudden intervention, Tanaka was also rendered speechless by the fact that the lady's eyes were still open, tears flowing like she hadn't blinked in all that time. _Paralysis_ , he noted.

"Greetings, Vice-Captain Hanamaki, sir!" saluted one of the guards while others tended to the girl and her father. _Vice-Captain?! As in Vice-Captain of the Guard?! Ohhhhh... sh*t._

"Sorry, I'm late. Took me a while to get out of that dang market! Seriously, do people not understand what is meant by 'this is an emergency, make way please'?!" complained the vice-captain. _What did Suga say about this guy again?_

_"Hanamaki Takahiro, 25, Vice-Captain of the Seijoh Guard. If you're not careful, his hemlock magic beams will paralyse you on the spot."_

_... Ah... I'm in serious danger, then._

"You there!" The voice of the said dangerous individual snapped Tanaka out of his thoughts. In his confused state, he pointed a questioning finger towards himself, silently saying 'me?'.

"Yea, you! Nice reflexes back there! What's your name? I'll slot you in for a promotion as soon as I can," Hanamaki commended, a few guards going 'ooh' and 'woah, lucky' behind him. Tanaka couldn't even respond before the girl's father came forward and got on his knees before him.

"Oh, thank you, sir! Thank you for saving my daughter! How can I possibly repay you!" he cried.

"Aww, ya see? Everyone saw you save her back there. So come on now, don't be shy, give me your name!" said Hanamaki, wrapping his arm around the man whom he hasn't realised is the Karasuno captain. Tanaka went blank, both in expression and in thought.

"Uhhhhhhhhh..."

* * *

"... How? WHY?! No... you can't be. He would never!" exclaimed Oikawa, the bow in his hands visibly shaking.

"I... I don't... Oik-"

"NO! SHUT UP! STAY RIGHT THERE! DON'T EVEN TRY TO MOVE!"

"... I didn't want to come back here either, Oik-"

"I SAID DON'T MOVE!" Oikawa screamed. " **Don't you dare say my name, got that? If you even try to say my name again I will shoot.** "

"As if you aren't going to right now..." As if taking Kageyama up on a dare, Oikawa shot another bolt that landed right by the other archer mage. Kageyama was beginning to feel the effects of the scent off of Oikawa's magic rose bolts as his vision began to blur and his mind started to shut down. In a desperate move, he dug his fingernails into the palms of his hand. Okay, he could think a bit more clearly now. _I need to get away... but he'll shoot if I take a step..._

"Why did you come back? Do you not know what 'banishment' means, huh?"

"I didn't really have a choice..." Kageyama sunk his fingernails through his trousers, trying to dig into his thigh.

"I WAS NICE ENOUGH NOT TO KILL YOU AND YOU REPAY ME BY COMING BACK?!"

"I... I'm on..." Finally feeling pain in his leg, Kageyama's mind snapped to attention again. _Wait! No, Tobio! You can't tell him about the mission!_

"... Kindaichi... and Kunimi... what were they doing?"

"... Is that why you came back? Because stupid Kindaichi and Kunimi lured you back?! How stupid are you, Tobio!!" _Huh, the first time he's said my name all day... don't see me throwing a fit about it... gosh, Stupidshima is rubbing off on me_.

"Fine! Let's say you got curious as to why they attacked you or something! But why would you waste your time? Why risk getting caught by the guards? Why-" Oikawa let out a strained cry, "Why risk me seeing you again?!"

Kageyama had no response to that, instead, trying to find another place to dig his nails into. And maybe it was the drowsiness, but he could've sworn he saw something black flying by.

"Well, if it's Kindaichi and Kunimi you want to see, then I'll bring you to them," Oikawa said, firing one last rose bolt into the ground next to Kageyama. "Just fall asleep like a good little boy and I'll take you to them. How about that?"

_This is it_ , thought Kageyama, _once I hit the ground, I'll probably be imprisoned... then... knowing Oikawa... execu-_ then it all went black.

* * *

"Ah! Please don't execute me!" Hinata asked quickly, cursing himself internally on how it wouldn't make a difference, he was dead. It did seem to make a difference, though, as Iwaizumi seemed to loosen up slightly.

"You-... you're a-... you're just a... kid..." he said. Hinata noticed his sword trembling slightly, noting it as odd.

"Well, I'm 15, so technically I'm a teenager," he retorted. _That's what Suga called me, right? A teenage boy?_

"I... name, job and kingdom. Now!" Iwaizumi exclaimed, reaffirming his grip on his sword. Thorns began to sprout out of the blade, made of magic energy, of course. _Wow, it really is like a cactus_ , thought Hinata.

"NOW!!"

"Ah! Oh! Uh... uhhhhh... Hinata Shouyou! Junior! Class- something... guard! A guard! Karasuno!" He responded in a panic. _Dammit, why did you even respond, Shouyou?! Stupid brain! Stupid pressure! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ He wasn't the only one finding it weird, though. Judging by his widened eyes and flustered face, Iwaizumi probably wasn't expecting him to answer either.

"I- what? Nevermind! You're a Karasuno guard? What are you doing here?!"

"I- uhhhhh... I am... uh..." _There's no way you can spill about the mission! But what else can you tell him?! C'mon Shouyou! Think!_

"Answer me!"

"SCOUTING! I'm scouting!" He blurted out. _Crap! Was that too much information?!_

Iwaizumi paused, looking down. His face in shock at first, then it morphed into frustration, then finally, disbelief. He looked up at the rookie guard again, eyes softening slightly compared to before.

"H-How desperate is your country to send out a kid to do such a dangerous thing? I could kill you right here and nobody back at your home would know. Do you know that?"

"Hey! I know I can die but I want to do it anyway! Besides, I'm only here because you sent out 'kids' to scout us out too!" _Shouyou what are you saying?! Stop that!_

"What? No, we don't! We would never send out anyone underage to scout!" _No! I'm not gonna stop! These guys are the reason mom's not waking up!_

"Oh, really? 'Cause two of your 'kids' came over and burned my house down!"

"...What? That's impossible!"

"I still remember their names!" _What did Bakageyama say again... right!_ "Kindaichi and Kunimi!" This caught Iwaizumi off guard again as his eyes widened once more.

"Sorry, say that again? Who?"

" **Kindaichi. And Kunimi.** " Hinata repeated. He was on a roll today, riding off the highs of being able to fluster the prime minister of Seijoh somehow. He was still doing a good job, too. Iwaizumi seemed to consider his words, his face morphing from disbelief to confusion, then from confusion to realisation, then finally pure anger.

"Shittykawa..." he growled. _Wait, he hasn't actually lowered his sword this whole time... THIS WHOLE TIME HE COULD'VE KILLED ME?! YIKES!!_ As if on cue, Iwaizumi took one more look at Hinata's almost hazel eyes, visibly contemplating something for what seemed like hours but was probably a few seconds. He finally lowered his sword, leaving it hanging by his waist side.

"Put your cloak back on and run, and don't come back. I don't need more blood on my hands today," said Iwaizumi in a low, commanding voice. The ultimatum stunned Hinata. This man didn't hesitate to kill a thief in cold blood, why was he different?

" **Go before I change my mind.** " Well, Hinata didn't need to be told thrice! Muttering a soft 'thank you', he quickly put on his hood and ran straight towards the gate. It was only then that a concerned Yahaba finally arrived.

"Sir? Are you okay? I heard you yell!"

"I'm fine, Yahaba. Just... let's cut this round short. I need to talk to Shi- Oikawa."

* * *

Yamaguchi covered his ears, closed his eyes and curled up into a little invisible ball, refusing to acknowledge Watari's footsteps growing louder and louder. After all, if he didn't see it, it wasn't happening, right? Tears began welling up and breached his eyelids, he could feel their salty taste in his mouth.

_Gosh, you're hopeless, Tadashi. Look at you! No backup! No plan! You're so useless without help! Just like you've always been! Every time it was either Tsukki, Captain Tanaka, Kinoshita or Narita! Heck, even Kageyama came through for you sometimes! And what do you have to show for it?! Nothing! No one's coming to save you! Not even yourself-_

"YAHHHHHHH!" yelled a familiar voice. Both Watari and Yamaguchi turned back towards its origin, only managing to see a blur of orange before said blur tackled Watari to the ground.

"Yamaguchi! I'm here to save you!" cried Hinata, doing what he does best in hand-to-hand combat: clawing and scratching. Fortunately for him, Watari's arms weren't covered in armour, but still had long black sleeves of which his arm braces slid above, so while the scratching was disturbing the Seijoh lieutenant, it wasn't exactly as effective as it would be on say Tsukishima.

"Hey! Stop! Get off of me, you animal! What?! Stop scratching- GAH!" Watari was forced to hold his arm braces up defensively over his face when the wild Karasuno rookie moved from clawing at his arms to his face.

_Come on, Tadashi! Even if someone else saved you doesn't mean you can't help! But how?!_ the adrenaline and relief of the situation forced Yamaguchi to snap out of his self-deprecating episode and rack his brain. He quickly began analysing the area around him, taking in the fact that he was invisible. A sneak attack? But with what? His lance? But Watari was a reflector class, the most his lance would do is collide with braces and stop. _But you gotta ambush him somehow- that's it!_

Watari summoned his strength and finally got Hinata off of him. Immediately after doing so, the lieutenant got into a defensive stance, his arms held out in an 'X' in front of him. Seeing that another tackle wouldn't work, Hinata drew out his sword and slashed. To that, Watari let out a tiny smirk.

The orange-edged black slashing beam collided with Watari's arm braces and reflected off of it like light on a mirror. The beam itself grew larger, turning into a black slash with orange spirals that reminded Hinata of his combo attack with Kageyama. He then realised he needed to stop reminiscing and dodge. And dodge he did; he jumped out of the way, the beam hitting a nearby tree, obliterating the first few layers of bark.

"Huh, that was quite weak. You must be a rookie, then," commented Watari. Externally, Hinata stayed in his attacking stance, him and Watari carefully moving in opposite directions, circling each other. Internally, Hinata was having a rude awakening, shattered by the fact that a slash that comprised probably about 80% of his existing power was considered weak. Either that or he was misunderstanding power percentages. He also processed that Watari was a reflector class, then smacked himself for not noticing the arm braces.

_Hm, Captain Tanaka said these guys will reflect anything I throw at them... then let's throw myself at him!_

Hinata threw himself forward, thrusting his sword into Watari's braces, causing sparks to fly. As he'd hoped, the sword didn't reflect; there was nothing to reflect, after all. What neither he nor the Seijoh lieutenant expected, however, was for magical black feathers to sprout and burst out the blade of the sword in all directions. A few of them grazed Hinata, more grazed Watari, and one hit Watari square in the forehead, causing him to bleed from there.

_That looked like Prime Minister Iwaizumi's magic!_ they both thought simultaneously. Hinata weighed the pros and cons of his new move. On the one hand, its area was so large that there was no way Watari could reflect it all. On the other, he didn't have full control over it; it's why he was cut by his own spell.

It's not like he had more time to think, Watari was charging right at him! Hinata reflexively raised his sword and moved it in a slashing motion, expecting it to collide with Watari's braces and cause more sparks. But in a tactical move, Watari stopped right outside the range of the slash and braced (no pun intended) himself. What would've been a physical collision turned into a slashing beam hitting reflecting braces, and at a distance where Hinata couldn't dodge out of the way since they were so close to each other. To make matters worse, two magic leaves sprouted out of each of Watari's braces, increasing their surface area. The leaves were made of magic, but more notably, they were made of many little leaflets.

_Watari Shinji, 19, lieutenant. His mimosa plant magic sprouts little leaflets off of his reflecting braces that each reflect bits of a larger slash, dispersing them into little cuts and reflecting all of them back. While they don't do much damage individually, they're much harder to dodge than a normal-sized reflected slash._

_Why do I only remember Suga's words at the worst of times?!_ thought Hinata. It was a desperate attempt to not acknowledge the pain of hundreds of little cuts scraping him everywhere. He at least had the instinct to close his eyes and mouth, so he was probably safe there. However, if it wasn't for his armour taking the brunt of it, he probably would've collapsed in pain right there. Still, he stood his ground, wincing.

Watari was about to make another charge when he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Soon after, he blacked out, his body falling face-first into the wet, Seijoh grass. Behind him, Yamaguchi had ridden his broom, swerved and rammed the side of the handle into the lieutenant's cervical nerve, praying to Garasu he didn't just kill a major figure in the Seijoh army.

"Woah! That was so cool, Yamaguchi!" Hinata cheered. Yamaguchi had no time to be flustered, though, as he threw a few vines towards the orange-haired rookie.

"Grab whatever supplies you can and tie them to both of our brooms with these vines! We're flying back to Karasuno!" While the green-haired guard sprung into action, Hinata just stood there, vines in his hand.

"Wait.. what?"

"We're flying back! We're retreating!"

"B-but why?"

"After all the noise you just made, there's probably backup coming to see what's going on, so we gotta get out, now!"

"But the others are still in there! We can't just leave them!"

"If we hurry back, we can call for reinforcements of our own! They'll be saved in no time!"

"Uh, but that'll start a war! Wasn't our whole point to gather info without provoking an early war?"

"Well, we can't gather info now that our supplies have been found! What if get stuck in there with the others too with no supplies?! We have to get out of here!"

"Just change hiding spots-"

"And get found out again?! Hinata, I am not going through that again!"

"Why?! 'Cause you're a wuss?!"

"YES! YES I'M A WUSS! OKAY?! I'm the biggest wuss there is because I'm so useless! I want to do something to help but I don't wanna die either, okay?!" Yamaguchi dropped whatever he was tying and snapped towards Hinata, tears in his eyes. "I, * _sniff_ * I don't wanna get left behind, * _sniff_ *, but I freaking called out to Watari, thinking it was the captain, * _sniff_ * and made me realise how useless I am!"

"... You're not useless, Yamaguchi. I mean, you basically came up with a plan and gathered all the stuff you needed the whole time I was fighting! So c'mon! With your brains and my sword, we can go get the others out of there! Whaddaya say?" Hinata offered, flashing a kilowatt smile; not as bright as his megawatt smile, but still bright nonetheless. Yamaguchi quivered, about to say something when ten or so voices suddenly rang right by where they were.

"Lieutenant Watari? Are you okay?"

"Lieutenant sir? What was that noise?!"

"Were you fighting someone, sir?"

"Who's there?! Lieutenant Watari, sir?! Are you there- GAH!!" After about ten or so screams, it went silent. And then...

"Heya! There you guys are! Seems like I made it in the nick of time!"

Yamaguchi couldn't have been happier to see any other than Karasuno's own Lieutenant Kinoshita Hisashi, majestic black wings on his back on full display, a slightly bloody lance at his side. Still crying, the rookie went up to the other cavalry mage and embraced him hard, sobbing about how badly they were doing before he showed up. Hinata, meanwhile, was cheering on and on about how cool Kinoshita was for taking out about ten enemies by himself.

"Oh, it was nothing. I just got the jump on them, that's all!"

"How did you know we were here?!"

"Haha, Yamaguchi's cries for help through the comms are hard to ignore. Just took me a while to assess the situation, is all!" Yamaguchi began sobbing harder, clinging on to Kinoshita even harder while Hinata went on a starstruck ramble. Soon enough, after they had calmed down, Kinoshita had a run-through of Yamaguchi's initial plan and Hinata's concerns, chuckling and patting the tangerine on the head when he heard how determined he was 'not to leave them behind'.

"You guys can go on ahead!"

"Wait, what?!" "WHAT?!"

"Yea, I'll handle getting everyone out! I'm faster after all! Plus, I managed to find someone who can be of great help to us!"

"Who?!" "Who?!"

* * *

Oikawa was shocked to see his own bolt reflect back at where he was. While he had tolerance towards his own sleep gas, he wasn't sure he could stay awake with a full whiff up close, so he half-heartedly covered his nose.

"Who are you?!" he demanded, looking at the... short man? boy? who was standing in front of Kageyama's sleeping body. He couldn't have been over 160cm! Despite the guy's short stature, he did look fairly muscular, and he had arm braces on, so at least he now knew how his bolt was reflected. But perhaps the most notable feature of all, besides his height, was his wild black hair that was ruffled upwards with a tiny tuft of hair that fell over his forehead which appeared to be dyed a dirty blond. Staring into his determined, slanted brown eyes, the King of Seijoh asked once again:

"Who are you?! And what are you doing here?!"

"Ah c'mon, don't you recognise your own prisoner? The name's Nishinoya Yuu, Vice-Captain of the Karasuno Guard!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! The first chapter to pass 5000 words! Also, the only reason Hanamaki is the vice-captain is that his canon Jersey number is later than Matsukawa's, nothing else!


	14. Escaping Seijoh

**About 10 minutes before Kinoshita saved Yamaguchi and Hinata.**

"Hey! My lunch was supposed to arrive an hour ago!" Nishinoya complained, sticking his head out from behind the bars of his jail cell. The guard watching over him let out a long sigh.

"You already had lunch an hour ago. Your next meal is dinner," he corrected.

"That wasn't lunch! That was two pork buns!"

"Two **large** pork buns."

"That's hardly even a snack!"

"All the other prisoners eat them fine."

"I just have a big appetite, okay?!"

"Yea, so big that the kitchen staff had to switch from five meals a day to three meals a day."

"Again, your 'meals' are two pork buns!"

"And those extra pork buns went to feed the army, thank you very much."

"Hah! You mean your army that LOST!"

"I- y'know what, just shut up." Nishinoya proceeded to pull an act of malicious compliance, shutting up with words but stuck his tongue out at the guard, spitting and making obnoxious sounds. His overseer rolled his eyes, doing his best to tune out the whining child... this annoying, frustrating, 19-year-old 'child'.

And you know what? He might've tuned him out too good because soon enough, he couldn't hear anything. In fact, he couldn't see anything! In fact, he couldn't think-

Nishinoya was startled, to say the least. What else was he supposed to think when he just watched the guard faint(?) right in front of him?! He peered out of his cell again, only to see every guard had fallen over unconscious, which was really strange, considering they were all standing to attention a moment ago when he was still being obnoxious.

"Uh, who just did that? Are you a ghost? Did you poison them? Are they dead?! I mean, I didn't like'em and all but killing them like that seems kinda harsh!" He remarked. "Wait, are you about to kill me too?! Y-you better not! I may not look like it, but I'm a pretty tough cookie, so think twice before you cross me!"

Sure, the Karasuno vice-captain was making all these vague threats, but in actuality, he wanted to pee his pants. And boy, did he nearly do just that when a figure in a white cloak 'materialised' right in front of him. The figure, who had spiky light brown hair, was laughing hysterically when Nishinoya unleashed a high-pitched scream.

"Well, doesn't seem like you'll make good on your threats with a scream like that, eh, vice-captain?" He teased, saying that last phrase mockingly. The Karasuno vice-captain took another look at his liberator, smiling brightly once he realised who it was.

"HISASHI!!!" He cried.

"Good to see you again too, Noya."

"Wait, but how did you know I was here?"

"I was investigating the prisons when I heard you whining."

"Hey! I wasn't whining! That guard was being unreasonable! And- hey! What are you doing here anyway?! Wait!! Are you guys invading?! Did Daichi finally get the balls?! Is Asa-"

"Eh, it's not 'invading' so much as it's 'trespassing'. And no, there's no army coming. Heck, there's not even a full squad. Just a team of seven, including me," said Kinoshita. 

"Aww... wait. Seven? Is Asa-"

"No, he's not here," the lieutenant revealed. Nishinoya visibly deflated at that.

"But Tanaka is!"

"RYUU'S HERE?! GET ME OUTTA HERE NOW!!"

* * *

"You! How did you get out?!"

"Oh y'know, my comrade blitzed the guards AND flew me all the way out here, spotted this little rookie on the ground and dropped me here to fight ya!"

"Pft, little," Oikawa snickered under his breath. Nishinoya seemed to hear that, though, because he beat his arm braces together, preparing for a fight as they made a clanging noise.

"Okay then, hot-shot! Come at me!!"

"If that's what you wish," Oikawa growled, seemingly aiming his bow at the little vice-captain at first. But as Noya began to charge, he swiftly shot at the ground between himself and the reflector mage, backing away as he did so. Noya knew better than to inhale a giant whiff of the sleep-inducing gas and so quickly stopped and covered his nose, losing whatever distance he gained on the King of Seijoh.

"Keep charging at me, little twerp, and I'll ensure you take a nice long nap with Tobio over there," taunted the king, firing two more rose bolts right by the Karasuno mage, forcing him to dodge out of the way. He went to fire the third shot, but it seemed that for Noya, third time's the charm.

The reflector mage quickly dove to where the bolt was about to land, hitting it high up into the air. While Oikawa instinctively looked up into the sky, trying to avoid getting struck by his own shot, Nishinoya straight-up head-butted the archer king in the abdomen, using his braces to pack a bigger punch.

As Oikawa sputtered to regain his footing, an electrical aura began forming around Noya's arm braces. He picked up (read: held him as if ready to drag him across the floor) the sleeping Kageyama and smirked.

"Man, your bolts must be powerful! You're saying it only took two of them to charge up my special move?! That's insane!"

"Wh-what are you-" 

"This move was inspired by one of the Dateko reflector mages! Hisashi may be the fastest in the air, but I'm the fastest on the ground!" exclaimed Nishinoya, holding his braces in front of his face. Before Oikawa stared at the vice-captain, wide-eyed. Not knowing what else to do, he readied a bolt, but by the time he held up his bow, it was too late.

"ROLLLLLIIIIIINNNGGGG... THUNDDEEEEEERRRRR!!!!"

* * *

Tanaka wasn't quite sure how he got here. First, he was standing in front of the Vice-Captain of the Seijoh Guard. The next thing he knew, he was on a horse, galloping beside a whole stampede of them. 

"DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!! CUT OFF THEIR EXITS!!" He heard Hanamaki yell over the thundering gallop of hooves stomping through the city path. Much clearer to him was Tsukishima's voice.

"You just had to show him your crest, didn't you?!" He complained, blocking a stray magic bolt with his arm wings. The blond rookie had secured himself onto a light wooden carriage that was pulled by the horse Tanaka was mounted on, facing backwards so he could get a relatively clear view of incoming fire.

"I DIDN'T SHOW HIM MY CREST! HE JUST SO HAPPENED TO SPOT IT!!"

"Because you weren't wearing your cloak properly!"

"I just broadly swung my sword! What else could I have done!"

"Uh? **Not** swing your sword!?"

"A little girl was about to die!"

"Focus guys! Tsukishima, good idea on the horse carriage!" Narita complimented as he rode up to right beside them. Tsukishima extended his arm wing out to block a shot aimed at the lieutenant, earning him another 'thanks'.

"... And I'll admit the stampede was a clever idea. But that's all from me!"

"Did- did Tsukishima just compliment me?" gasped Narita, hand over his chest in shock.

"Shut it, lieutenant. We're not out of the woods yet!"

"Hey! Respect your superiors, blondie!" scolded Tanaka.

"I kinda feel bad for the horse salesmen that I stole these from!" Narita said quickly, steering the conversation to avoid a fistfight between the two. Out of all possible scenarios, that was indeed one of the WORST things that could possibly happen right now.

"Eh, they're either Seijoh or from other kingdoms! Less business for them, better for us!"

"Really? What if they were from Karasuno? Or had Karasuno Khun on them?" questioned Tsukishima. Narita quickly swiped another magic bolt away from the rookie with his sword, sighing in frustration at how they went right back to arguing.

"Eh! You heard the banker! No one uses Karasuno Khun outside of Karasuno anymore!"

"So you admit our currency is weak?"

"LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE SHI-"

"MATTSUN!! GET 'EM!!!" Yelled Hanamaki.

"Guys! LEFT!! LEFT!! STEER LEFT!!!" Narita yelled, pulling on the reins of his horse. Tanaka and Tsukishima looked in front of them... only to be met with a massive wall of wood. They only saw it for a few seconds before they too steered left, following Narita, but in those few seconds, managed to make out the fact that the wall was comprised of what seemed like giant magic tree trunks twisted together to form the barrier. And soon, they were out of sight, now winding through a crowded alleyway.

The smaller roads through the common realm city were littered with boxes, trash, and even the occasional beggar, so the three made sure their horses jumped wherever they could, trying to lose as little momentum as possible. It was made even more difficult when even more tree walls began sprouting up, blocking their direct exits, forcing them to do many sharp turns. Since they didn't have a map of Seijoh memorised, they were mostly just following the other horses in the stampede, praying they were heading for the countryside. 

"Who's casting these stupid walls?!" Asked Tsukishima.

"Mattsun? As in... Matsukawa! Crap!" Narita exclaimed, realisation dawning on him. At the back of Tanaka's mind, Suga's voice spoke up again.

_"Matsukawa Issei, 25, Captain of the Seijoh Guard. His can prop up his ironwood walls anywhere he wants within his line of sight. Crash head-first into one of these at full speed and your skull will crack open like an egg!"_

_Gee, thanks a lot, memory of Suga!_

"If he can see us, he can block us! We have to go faster!!" Tanaka ordered, squeezing the sides of his horse with his calves and feet while leaning forward. Narita did the same as Tsukishima continued to block incoming shots.

"Are you sure you can go any faster?" asked a relatively deep voice. Tanaka and Narita immediately pulled on the reins, their horses rearing up, neighing loudly. The front hooves of Tanaka's horse, however, didn't land on the ground like Narita's. Instead, they hit a 'roof' made of ironwood, forcing the horse rearing back again, throwing the Karasuno captain right off the saddle.

"Wow, did you really sneak in here to steal horses? Are brooms not enough for you? The peasants need these horses, thank you very much," the voice mocked. Tanaka looked up at the man standing in front of him with a head of messy black hair. He had black eyes and thick eyebrows of the same colour. 

"So, Karasuno, eh? What brings you guys here to our lovely kingdom?" Matsukawa asked. Tanaka, rather than answering, focused on other details instead. He noted the other captain's height, probably around 190cm, and his more pronounced upper lip. He had a whole plate of ironwood on his arm that was still lifted from when he was forced to block the falling hooves of the horse.

The man himself was rather interesting, somehow holding this interrogation while Narita circled him, trying to find an opening to save Tanaka. But whenever he dove for it, an ironwood wall would sprout up. Soon, Tanaka was practically enclosed in with the Seijoh captain after all the failed attempts resulted in a cage of magic ironwood.

"Hah! Look at you guys! You're totally gearing up to invade us!" Tanaka exclaimed, trying to stall for more time. Matsukawa seemed to catch on to his ploy, however.

"Nice try, but if anything, you're the ones invading us right now. Y'know what? Makki will be here soon. He'll paralyse ya and drag your asses to prison. We can continue our conversation there," he responded. Tanaka, desperate, swung a sword beam at his foe, who blocked it with an ironwood pad on his arm.

"Dude, my magic is literally the toughest tree bark known to man. You can't hurt me," he taunted.

"But he can make you lose focus," said Tsukishima, falling from above the ironwood enclosure. He had his arm wings on full display, body positioned to, well, body the Seijoh captain. Matsukawa didn't have time to put up a proper roof, so resorted to using another magic pad on his arm to soften the incoming blow. But Tsukishima had accomplished his goal; one of the walls falling from Matsukawa's split attention. 

Narita didn't waste time either, getting the stampede up and running again with a few loud noises, sending them straight towards the other three guards. Tsukishima quickly grabbed Tanaka and hoisted him up onto their original horse, himself climbing back onto the carriage. The three Karasuno guards then charged straight towards Matsukawa, seemingly about to ram him and themselves into the ironwood wall behind him.

_ARE THEY INSANE!? THEY'RE GONNA KILL ALL FOUR OF US!!_ thought Matsukawa. Were they trying to take him down with them? Whatever the case, the Seijoh captain was forced to undo the wall behind him and curled up, expecting to get trampled. But after a few seconds of bracing for hooves that never came and the sounds of galloping growing softer, he realised what had just occurred.

_They tricked me! They knew I had to undo my spell!_ he mentally berated himself. Matsukawa then looked up to see how far they had made it... exactly what Tsukishima was waiting for.

"The peasants probably also need this dirt, thank you very much," he commented, his snarky tone only adding to the pain of dirt flying into Matsukawa's eyes. The rookie had unleashed a bag of the stuff onto the poor captain before Tanaka rode off, leaving him to yell in anguish and agony as he tried to get the dirt out.

"Hah! Now he can't see us! Great job Tsukki!!" Tanaka cheered.

"Don't call me that!"

"'Kay then, Tsuki-"

"TSUKISHIMA!! LOOK OUT!!" Narita screamed. Too late. Tsukishima tried to raise his hand to block the oncoming beam, but it grazed him by the palm. The rookie held his hand, biting his lip to resist screaming. Tanaka quickly urged him to sit down in the carriage, blocking more beams with his own sword. As he looked back, he saw the one casting the beams was none other than Hanamaki. _Shit!_

A magic hemlock flower sprouted from Tsukishima's wound and while Narita did his best to lead both horses to catch up with the stampede, Tanaka cast a quick slash of his own towards the opposing captain and vice-captain. Hanamaki swatted it away as best as he could, opting to tend to Matsukawa rather than counterattack himself, letting the other guards pursue them. Tanaka once again urged Tsukishima to sit down, even lie down in the carriage.

"You're gonna be paralysed in a moment, so just hang tight. I swear, as your captain, I'll get us out of here!" He promised, looking up at something in the sky.

Tsukishima wanted to retort, saying how he was the one who saved Tanaka back there, but no words came out; his tongue had gone numb. His hands had gone before that, and soon whatever magic or poison it was that the Seijoh vice-captain used had spread throughout his body, reaching his legs. Knowing how devastating it was to have dry eyes, Tsukishima shut his eyelids close just as he felt his head become light.

* * *

Hinata and Yamaguchi were doing their best to navigate their way out of the forest. It was difficult, to say the least, considering the team was so enraptured by its beauty that they forgot to mark their trail. On one hand, why would they even mark their trail? Any Seijoh guard would catch on to them. On the other, there were now two Karasuno rookies seriously lost in the woods with dusk rapidly approaching. At least they had most of the supplies, right?

"Yamaguchi, we might be living off of these supplies for a few days..." Hinata remarked nervously, shrinking away when he heard a chirping squirrel. Those chirps sounded innocent enough earlier in the day when he was surrounded by comrades. Now, as the sun began to set, who knows if those chirps were even from a squirrel?

"I- I mean, our tracking potions are still working, right? Should we just wait here for reinforcements?" Yamaguchi asked, yelping at the sudden rustling of a bush. Again, wasn't so intimidating during the day but by now, the sky was a mix of orange and purple hues.

"H-how long will it take to send backup?" asked Hinata.

"Um..."

"Hehe... Yamaguchi?"

"Uh......" Yamaguchi was sweating bullets at this point. Hinata, sensing his nervousness, tried to quell his own anxiety by hastily searching for a biscuit (or something) in one of the supply bags to munch on. 

"H-Hinata, are you s-stress eating?"

"Hehehe... * _crunch_ * I-I don't * _crunch_ * know what * _crunch_ * y-you're talking about * _crunch_ *, Yamaguchi..."

* _crunch_ *

"HINATA WE NEED THOSE SUPPLIES FOR THE NIGHT!!"

"I CAN'T HELP IT, OKAY?! I CAN SLEEP ON CONCRETE FINE BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS WITH ALL THE SCARY ANIMALS?!"

"WHO SLEEPS ON CONCRETE FINE?!"

"ME, DUH!!"

"I- I- wait! Shhhhhhh! Crap! Crap crap crap!"

"What?!"

"Ohhhhhhhh... oh no... we shouldn't have been yelling!!! We're gonna get caught again!! I don't want to get caught again!! Hinata, let's make a run for it!!"

"W-wait!! Yamaguchi!! LOOK OUT!!!"

And with that, the green-haired guard smashed his face into a hard metal breastplate. Hinata responded by drawing his sword, the last light of day glimmering off of the blade.

"Yamaguchi, get behind me!" He exclaimed before turning to the figure, "who's there?! I have a sword and I will swing it!!"

With no good light source left to see, Hinata could only make out the figure's short hair and armour, and also that they were riding on a broom. Right after he made his threat, the sound of about twenty more broomsticks gliding in the breeze could be heard.

_Oh, come on! I survived the prime minister of Seijoh and a lieutenant, but now you're saying I get taken out by a legion of their rookies or something?! Okay, relax Shouyou... if you just get Yamaguchi and ride off into the woods, you should be able to esc-_

"Haha, I don't think that's a very convincing threat, Hinata," said a warm voice from the shadows. Another figure emerged from the group, and after what sounded like the clinking of glass, a light began to illuminate the little spot they were in, revealing the 'legion'.

"Like, no offence, but I felt like I was being threatened by a puppy," teased Sugawara. He had a staff in one hand, a glowing potion hanging on its end.

"MR SUGAWARA!! And... MS PRINCESS?!"

"Hello, you two looked like you were in need of rescuing!" said Michimiya, donning armour that reflected the light off of Suga's potion. With a sword by her side, it was clear that she and Sugawara were the ones leading the 'legion'. Hinata wouldn't call it a legion, because after the Karasuno prime minister shook another potion vial to illuminate the space, he could only see about 10 to 15 soldiers at best. But a closer look revealed something else, all of them were women, and armour-clad too.

"Me, Sugawara, and my personal squad here will be escorting you out of the woods. Where are the others, if I may ask?" Michimiya questioned. Before Hinata could answer, Sugawara poured some liquid on the ground, and from the tiny puddle emerged a small map with blue dots scattered on it, wowing the orange rookie like all of Suga's other potions.

"Hmmm, it seems like they're still in Seijoh... oh wait! All of them are making a beeline in our direction! We should meet up with them soon!" Sugawara explained.

"That's great news!" exclaimed Michimiya.

"W-wait, that metal thing I bumped into..." stammered Yamaguchi. Hinata had admittedly almost forgotten about him in the cloud nine of relief he was on when he saw Suga and Michimiya.

"Oh, sorry, Yamaguchi! That was my breastplate! It's made out of rather tough bronze so you might have a headache tomorrow," the princess replied sheepishly. Yamaguchi turned a shade of red, reminding Hinata of the tomatoes he saw in that old Seijoh lady's kitchen.

"Y-your b-b-breast-p-p..." and with that, the other rookie fainted, a sputtering mess. While Hinata immediately went over to him, yelling 'YAMAGUCHI' in case he was falling asleep or something, Sugawara shook his head, chuckling.

"Oh, what are we ever gonna do with... holy shi- I mean... Woah! One of those dots is approaching us real fast!" Sugawara commented, leaning in to examine the map closer.

"Is that Kinoshita? Who else could be that fast?" suggested Michimiya. The two would get their answer soon enough, however, as the crackling of lightning could be heard swiftly approaching them.

"HAHA! What did I say about trusting my gut!? I've wandered around in these woods for too long to get lost!!" yelled a voice coming from an explosion of electricity in front of them. Sugawara rubbed his eyes, adjusting to the rapid change in brightness, before gasping at who was standing before them.

"Wait... NISHINOYA?!"

"AYE! IT'S MY MAN SUGA! AND MISS YUI!! LONG TIME NO SEE!!"

* * *

**About 30 minutes ago...**

Oikawa didn't know what to make of the situation. He had just watched a shorter man... for lack of a better term, roll up into a ball and make a rapid getaway with Tobio as lightning shot out of his braces. At least it was probably painful to get dragged away as Tobio did, so that was a plus.

"Heh, I can't believe I just let them escape... F*CK!!" Oikawa shouted, throwing his bow into the ground and stomping his feet.

"Shittykawa, stop acting like a child!" came a snarl from behind him. The King of Seijoh's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing the voice, snapping his head around, a wide grin on his face as if he didn't just throw a mini tantrum.

"IWA-CHAN!!" He exclaimed. Iwaizumi's disgusted face was all he got as the prime minister stepped out of his palanquin.

"Shut it! You were fighting someone just now, weren't you?"

"Iwa-chan!! Not even a hello? A 'how do you do'? A nice little 'greetings, your majesty'?!'

"Stop trying to change the subject! Takeru told me you just left him with your servants and ran off to fight someone. Who were you fighting?"

"I was fighting stupid To- some prisoner who escaped! The Karasuno vice-captain or whoever he was!"

_Karasuno vice-captain? And after I met a Karasuno kid? This can't be a coincidence..._

"And you lost?!" Iwaizumi said out loud. No way was he letting Oikawa know he had just let a 'kid' go.

"No Iwa-chan! I didn't lose! He was just too fast!"

"Oh yeah, I can tell. Look at how many shots you missed!" scolded Iwaizumi, gesturing to the numerous rose bolts embedded in the ground.

"Iwa-chan!! Stop being mean! You know it's my strategy!!"

"Well, it's a pretty sh*tty strategy if you, the king, can't take down an enemy vice-captain!"

"Iwa-chan, mean!!!"

"Look at him! This is what you have to inherit, Yahaba! I swear if it wasn't for the fact I grew up with this piece of crap, I would've fast-tracked your succession years ago!"

"IWA-CHAN!!!"

"Hehe, it's really alright, sir. I'll... uh... I'll just look over there to see if I can spot the escapee," Yahaba said, awkwardly shuffling away from the arguing pair.

"I should've never made you Commander General! I'm taking your title away for being mean!"

"Crappykawa, you can't do that without a majority vote from the council, and they all know your full of sh*t, so.."

"Hmph! Then I revoke your position as prime minister!"

"Oh, that's even worse! You can't do that without a 'vote of no confidence', and I'm said to be the best PM Seijoh's had in ages!"

"Then... then... no cuddles for a month!"

"* _sigh_ * Okay, enough distractions, I have something serious to ask you."

"By Kukunochi! At least show **some** worry about no cuddles-"

"Tooru this is serious!" Oikawa widened his eyes

_Oh... he used my first name... this_ ** _is_** _serious..._ he thought.

"... Very well. What is it?" Iwaizumi took a deep breath. Oikawa could be surprisingly calm and quiet when he wanted to, and it was these rapid mood swings that bothered the prime minister, but that can be saved for another day.

"I heard from a... source that Kindaichi and Kunimi were sent to scout out and terrorise Karasuno. Is this true?" Oikawa's smile disappeared, the king falling silent.

"What's your source?"

"Just answer the question, Tooru. Is. It. True?"

"... And what if I told you it was?"

"Oikawa, this is a serious violation of my trust! As Commander General, I deserve to know where my troops are being sent! As prime minister, I deserve to know when contact is being established with other kingdoms! And as a human being," Iwaizumi paused, sighing. "I deserve to know when kids are being sent off to danger."

"Kindaichi and Kunimi volunteered. They wanted to see... you know who."

"And you didn't try to stop them? You didn't come and tell me?!"

"No! No I didn't! Karasuno has been a pain in our side for the longest time, their vice-captain escaping only proves that even more! It was about time I did something!"

"After discussing it with the council and me!"

"As the king, I have the final say."

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should! They're just kids!"

"And as your king, I order you to back off of this issue."

"OIKAWA!"

" **Back. Off. I mean it, Hajime.** " With that, Oikawa rode (hijacked) Iwaizumi's palanquin, leaving his childhood friend standing in the shade of the tree. Iwaizumi was in shock, barely registering that Yahaba was going off to find another mode of transport. He clenched his fists hard, a drop of blood spilling onto the ground. Right there, in the middle of the Seijoh countryside, a man stood wondering when his friend had changed.

* * *

"Wait, who is he?" Asked Yamaguchi, inquisitively scanning the shorter man.

"Yamaguchi, Hinata, let me introduce to you the Vice-Captain of the Karasuno Guard, Nishinoya Yuu," announced Sugawara. Nishinoya stood up proud, hands on his waist, nodding.

"Nice to meet you, rookies!" Nishinoya was smiling so wide the light off of Suga's potion was reflecting off of his teeth and into Yamaguchi's eye. While he tried to find a position to avoid getting 'lasered', Hinata moved up close to the vice-captain. He looked him up and down, confusing Nishinoya.

"Y-you... how tall are you?"

"... like 159cm, why?"

"Y-you're... YOU'RE SHORTER THAN ME?!"

"HEY!! I KNOW I'M SHORT BUT NO NEED TO RUB IT IN!" Noya yelled, shaking his fist at the poor, curious rookie. But Hinata began crying, so Suga jumped in.

"Now now Noya, no need to be so loud. These two rookies are a tad more sensitive than the rest..."

"Oh- oh no! I'm not crying because he scared me, Mr Suga," explained Hinata through his tears.

"What?"

"Wow, Mr Suga? You sure do get along with the young ones quite well," Nishinoya commented.

"I- I was crying because I'm so happy to see a shorter person in the guard with me!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! SUGA!! I WANT HIM OUT OF THE GUARD, NOW! ASAP!!" While Sugawara did his best to restrain a now feral Nishinoya, desperately telling him that he couldn't just fire rookies like that, one of Michimiya's squad member's had finished tending to Kageyama.

"He just has a few surface wounds. Other than that, he should wake up soon," she summarised.

"Thank you, Kikuchi. And in fact, looking at the map, once the others have all arrived too, we can head home without needing extra trips!" declared Michimiya, earning her cheers from her team and a sigh of relief from Yamaguchi. Hinata and Sugawara let out their own sighs of relief when Nishinoya decided not to expel Hinata after all because quote: "He's short like me, so I'll let him go this one time."

"Your highness! One of the dots is almost here!" exclaimed one of Michimiya's subordinates.

"Judging by its speed, it should be..." Michimiya smiled when she heard wings flapping, and before long, Kinoshita landed before them, a limp Tsukishima in hand.

"TSUKKI!!" Yamaguchi shouted, running up to catch the blond in his hands. Tsukishima didn't even bother to open his eyes, grunting something indecipherable... well, indecipherable except to Yamaguchi.

"Sorry, Tsukki," the green-haired guard said, backing off and letting one of Michimiya's guards take over. Meanwhile, Kinoshita was giving his report to Sugawara and Michimiya.

"The others are right behind me on horseback. I just volunteered to fly Tsukishima back quicker and saw your light."

"Ah, I see- wait, horseback?" Sugawara asked in disbelief. Sure enough, moments later, Tanaka and Narita made their dramatic entrance on top of their newly acquired (stolen) horses (the rest of the stampede had dispersed the moment they exited the kingdom).

"RYUUUUUUUUU!!!!" yelled Nishinoya, hopping off the walls in excitement.

"NOOOYYYYYAAAAA!!!!" Tanaka responded with equal vigour. Narita's 'long time no see' was mostly drowned out by the reunited 'bros', the two chest-bumping, fist-bumping and whatnot.

"Where were you?! You know just how much I missed ya, right bro?!"

"Gah! Those Seijoh bastards locked me away for a month!! It was torture, dude! I had to survive off of two pork buns a meal!"

"What??!?! That's no way to live bro!"

"I know bro!"

"Two pork buns? Ahhhh!! That sounds so good!!!" exclaimed Hinata, drooling at the thought. Nishinoya looked at him like he had just grown an extra head.

"Man... what torturous diet have you been on?" asked Nishinoya. While Tanaka tried to explain Hinata's background, Narita was giving a rather pessimistic run down of their endeavours.

"Basically, in terms of tasks, we've completely failed the mission," he reported, sighing dejectedly. Sugawara patted his shoulder assuringly.

"I don't think so. You guys may have failed the originally given tasks, but you managed to retrieve Nishinoya from prison! We didn't even know he was trapped there! So I'd say this mission was actually a success!" These words brightened up Narita's eyes, not to mention Suga's angelic smile could warm anyone's heart.

"I hear my name! What are we talking about?" Nishinoya interjected. Michimiya explained to him about the team and their mission to gather intel on a potential invasion, to which the vice-captain responded with a hearty chuckle.

"Invasion? Oh yeah, Seijoh's totally gonna invade us! I overheard some juicy stuff in that jail cell!" 

"Wait, really?! That's great news! Well, I mean, not 'great' news, but that's great for us to prepare! Looks like you guys didn't fail your mission after all!" exclaimed the prime minister. Noya stood there proudly as if he had just found a cure-all to all diseases while everyone else had their own mini celebrations.

"Not to mention, you all must've learned some new techniques! After all, all it takes is a look at the move to be able to hone it!" suggested Michimiya. Hinata immediately raised his hand.

"Ooh! Ooh! Watch this!" He drew out his sword and closed his eyes, picturing the move in his mind. As he thrust his blade forward, magic black feathers spewed out in all directions, forcing some of those present to shield themselves. Hinata frowned at his lack of control, but Sugawara was clapping, an awestruck look on his face.

"Hinata! That's awesome! Now all you need to do is train and you'll get the hang of it! This mission was a total success after all! C'mon! We gotta head back! Daichi will have a field day!"

"Heck yeah! Karasuno's fighting days are far from over!!" Tanaka declared triumphantly, and everyone there (that could respond) pumped their fists into the air, cheering.

* * *

**Bonus scene:**

"Wait, Mr Suga, sir, how did you know we were in trouble?" asked Hinata

"Actually... yea! Hinata and I weren't actually lost all that long! How did you come to meet us so quickly? All you had were dots on a map, right?" added Yamaguchi.

"Oh... uh... you see..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus scenes are usually for scenarios that I felt didn't fit quite neatly into the main body of the story or if the main story had ended on a good note and didn't want to 'ruin' it. Do let me know if you would like to see more of them!


	15. A vice-captain's love

Takeda was unable to leave his desk to greet the returning scouting team, instead, he was being forced to tend to ever-growing stacks of paperwork that needed looking-over. He took off his glasses for a moment, massaging his forehead and groaning. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on... the window? But his office was on the 5th floor of the administrative building inside palace grounds! How...

Takeda turned towards the window, the night sky shining bright with stars and the waxing moon. A great-horned owl was perched on his window sill, tapping on the glass with his talon, and attached to that talon was a parchment.

_Wait... did they finally respond?_ thought Takeda. He opened the window and let the owl fly in, removing the parchment. The owl stayed by his side, looking at him curiously as the secretary-general read the letter. It hooted and walked around the desk and paper stacks, watching Takeda's face turn from intrigue, to shock, and finally, overwhelming joy. The older man had knocked his chair over as he stood abruptly, startling the owl. The nocturnal bird flew in circles near the ceiling, seemingly studying the man doing a little jig, shouting 'they said yes!' and 'they're coming!' over and over again. It was so perplexed by the man's behaviour that it once again perched itself on his desk, letting out an inquisitive 'hoot'.

The sound reminded Takeda of the owl's presence, and he fumbled to sit back at his desk, reaching for an empty sheet of paper, knocking over a stack of documents in the process. But he couldn't care less. Takeda hastily scribbled a response on the paper, signed it, rolled it up and attached it to the owl's talon, urging it to fly back to its sender.

Once the owl was out and his window closed once again, the man regained his composure before multiple realisations dawned on him. He had to inform Daichi! He had to inform Lady Shimizu so that she could address the whole kingdom! This could even be the leverage he needed to get that grumpy store owner to join the council! Quickly putting on a coat, he made haste down the administrative building, the message he wanted to convey firmly imprinted in his mind.

They were receiving a state visit from Nekoma.

* * *

"Nishinoya! It's good to have you back!" said Daichi, sitting on his throne. The echoes of his voice could be heard ricocheting off the walls of the throne room, something which spooked Hinata, shifting slightly in his position. The rest of the scouting team were kneeling with him before their king, so he was quite uncomfortable already. Why was kneeling the position that showed respect? Why couldn't it be sitting? Or standing?

"Yes, your majesty! I'm back and ready to rumble!" Noya declared.

"Alright, I appreciate your enthusiasm. Now, everyone may stand," Daichi ordered. Hinata could've sworn the king had mumbled 'it's making me uncomfortable' underneath his breath, but perhaps that was just his wishful thinking. With everyone now clearly more comfortable (Tanaka spotted Yamaguchi's legs wobbling, but he's not the type to tattle), Daichi cleared his throat.

"I'm sure Suga was forced to admit we had been watching you all directly with recording equipment, so let me first apologise for us invading your privacy," he started. Those present insisting it was no big deal, with only Tanaka giving the response Daichi wanted: a loud 'APOLOGY ACCEPTED'.

"With that being said, that means we, the council, basically already know the major ups and downs of the mission. So allow me to commend you all here for a job well done!" Ennoshita and Michimiya, who were standing to the side of the room, began applauding.

"I'd like to specially commend Kinoshita for his quick-thinking and speed in handling his encountered foes, and also for being the one to rescue Nishinoya from jail and assisting everyone wherever he could. For that, I award you, Kinoshita Hisashi, the Distinguished Wing of Flight and the Ukai Medal of Merit." The room erupted into thunderous applause at the declaration; Kinoshita marching up to Ennoshita to receive his awards, his face a light shade of red. While he gave his thanks and returned, Hinata quietly asked Tanaka about the awards.

"The Distinguished Wing of Flight is for heroism in aerial flight while the Ukai Medal of Merit is awarded for outstanding military service. Those two are super top tier stuff! Heck, I've only received the Ukai Medal of Merit once!" The captain explained.

"Wait! You can get the same award more than once?!"

"Yeah totally! The more you have, the more people know you're a total badass!"

"Woah!!! So cool!!!"

"Next, I'd like to ask Tanaka Ryuunosuke and Narita Kazuhito to step up. I am awarding you both the Kurokawa Soldier's Medal, for your acts of saving the girl held hostage and saving the life of the first stab victim respectively." More applause, more thanksgiving, same old stuff. 

"Ooh! What's that for?" Hinata asked Tanaka. His captain pumped up his chest in pride.

"You're looking at someone who committed an act of heroism in a non-combat situation!" The awestruck 'Woah' from Hinata only fed the captain's ego more.

"And finally, Hinata Shouyou!"

"Eep!"

"I am giving you the Rookie Achievement Medal, as an acknowledgement of your perseverance in the face of multiple stronger enemies, and for making the first major stride in learning techniques in this operation." Hinata's heart jumped out of his chest. His legs shook all the way from his spot amongst his teammates to the stage where Ennoshita stood. Quietly and sheepishly, he asked the crown prince what the award was for.

"It's for rookies whose achievements don't quite make the more prestigious awards but deserve to be acknowledged nonetheless," Ennoshita whispered back, shaking his hand and congratulating him loudly, smiling (through the awkwardness). Hinata nodded his head in thanks and shivered his way back to his original spot.

"There are more awards I'd like to give out, but unfortunately, Tsukishima and Kageyama are still in the infirmary, so I'll be holding a more private ceremony for them once they've recovered."

_Huh, of course, you didn't receive any awards, Tadashi..._ thought Yamaguchi.

"And I'd like to give an honourable mention to Yamaguchi Tadashi. He showed his ability to act rationally in the face of overwhelming pressure towards the end of the operation, an act that must not go unmentioned. Everyone, please give him a round of applause!" The people present did just that, cheering Yamaguchi on. The green-haired guard looked like a strawberry with how red his face turned.

"Now, on to the serious matters. Nishinoya, I will be needing a report on all that you know about Seijoh's plans. You may submit it directly to either Ennoshita or Mr Takeda."

"Yes, your majesty!"

"I am also assuming you are going to resume your role as the Vice-Captain of the Guard?"

"Yes- well..." Nishinoya had an uncertain look on his face, baffling Daichi.

"What's wrong?"

"Where's Asahi? He wasn't on the team but I'd assume he'd be back by now..."

"... I'm afraid Asa- General Azumane is still resigned from his position..."

"Tsk... I knew it... that coward..." Noya's face grew dark with anger.

"Nishinoya... why do you ask?"

"If Asahi's not back on the force, then you can forget about me too!" The room erupted into gasps, everyone turning to face the vice-captain... well, soon-to-be-former vice-captain in shock. Tanaka in particular gave a pretty dramatic 'why??? Bro, don't leave me alone!'.

"And why is that?"

"Because he's a total wimp! If a wimp like him won't come back, then I won't either!"

"Nishinoya-"

"I'll still give you your report, but you won't catch me near that HQ building, ever!"

"Nishinoya, that is very disrespectful!" Ennoshita chided.

"IF YA WANT ME TO RESPECT THIS DAMN CROWN THEN ASK ASAHI TO RESPECT ME BY COMING BACK! TELL HIM IF HE WANTS TO STAY IN HIS LITTLE HOLE OF SHAME AND WASTE EVERYTHING WE BUILT TOGETHER, THEN I'LL STAY OUT TOO!!" The little guard yelled, his voice almost as loud as Daichi's regular voice. As a final act of defiance, he took off his braces and threw them onto the floor, storming out the palace. The guards by the door moved to stop him but Daichi waved them off, letting out a concerned sigh.

"W-what just happened?" Hinata asked nervously.

"I think he just... quit..." Tanaka replied, also in disbelief.

"B-but why?! Who's this Asahi guy anyway?! Why'd he so important that Mr Noya would just quit like that?!" Daichi let out yet another sigh, closing his eyes and turning away from where the group was standing, a wave of painful memories crashing down on him.

"I... damn... Suga knows the most about this but he's held up at the infirmary..."

"Should I go get him?" asked Michimiya.

"No. No. That won't be necessary... um... Tanaka?"

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Could you show Hinata... and for that matter, Yamaguchi outside and explain all you know?"

"Yes, your majesty!"

"Good. To the rest of you, if you see Nishinoya, don't press the issue. Karasuno can't afford to lose its guardian deity, and agitating him further will do just that."

"YES YOUR MAJESTY!" was the resounding reply.

* * *

"Ah dammit! Where do I begin?" Tanaka groaned. The stars and moon were the only source of light that illuminated the courtyard the three were in, Hinata and Yamaguchi sitting on the bench by the tree that grew there.

"Wow... how long is this story?" Yamaguchi asked.

"Well, it's not that long, actually. It's just... man... it's just kinda painful and awkward to talk about..."

"It's okay, Captain Tanaka! Yamaguchi and I will be here ready! So start whenever you're comfortable!"

"Aww... I swear, kid, you're gonna be the death of me. Welp, guess I can't be a bad captain now, huh? Alright, I want you to pay full attention, okay?"

"Okay!" They responded in unison. Hinata got distracted with boring introductions before, but he may be able to pay better attention to a tragic story.

"You know how that Iwaizumi guy is the Commander-General of Seijoh? Well, our commander-general, well, our most recent one, was this guy, Azumane Asahi. If you thought I was strong, then you haven't met Asahi! The man was straight-up brutal in combat! He wielded a special sledgehammer that he would fight with in place of a regular sword!"

"Woah! Does that make him a unique case?"

"It sure does! I mean, what swordsman have you seen fights with a big-ass hammer, right? Anyway, the guy was a beast, but when he was paired with Noya, they could defeat anyone!"

_"So long as I'm here, you're invincible."_ Tanaka's story seemed to trigger Kageyama's words to hark in the back of Hinata's mind.

"I mean, you have a guy who can take down walls with a single blow and another who could reflect any shot that came close to him! While that kind of combo is common, each pair's synergy varies, and Asahi and Noya had **perfect** synergy. Like, he works with others fine but something just... clicked between them, y'know?"

_Perfect synergy? Do I have that? Who would I have that with? ... Kageyama?_ thought Hinata.

"Then... came the day... when the duo met a force they couldn't defeat... when Asahi met a wall he couldn't destroy. His shots were constantly getting snuffed out and Noya kept getting battered trying to protect him. And then-" Tanaka paused, his voice full of emotion.

"Noya took a deep slash in the chest. If the Minister of Health herself didn't come when she did, he probably wouldn't be alive today! I was on the sidelines that day, I couldn't even help! I couldn't even help when * **sniff** * my best friend was * **sniff** * dying in front of me and-" Tanaka began to tear up, prompting an ever-prepared Yamaguchi to give him some tissues. Tanaka tearfully gave his thanks and continued.

"And... gosh... I will never forget how hard Asahi cried that day... watching him hold on to Noya's hand, begging him not to die was just- gah! I..."

"Oh my... but... Mr Noya recovered, right? I mean, he's still alive now!"

"Yeah, but Asahi... he's the type to shoulder everything, even if it wasn't his fault. Noya nearly died saving **him**... and he never forgave himself... he probably still hasn't... and so, after that battle, he resigned... and when Noya had recovered, he went to confront him... and, well, Hinata?"

"Yea?"

"You remember that dirty, tattered portrait back in the HQ gallery?"

"Yea?"

_"I don't get it! I'm alive, right here in front of you!" Nishinoya yelled._

_"Noya... you don't understand..."_

_"What don't I understand?!"_

_"I can't let you get hurt like that again! Lady Yachi isn't always gonna be there!"_

_"I know that! And I don't care! I protect you knowing full well I can get killed!"_

_"Exactly, and I can't let that happen!"_

_"Asahi, listen to me, it's my choice to jump in front of shots! It's not your fault that I guessed the trajectory wrong!"_

_"Isn't it?! You only took that shot because of me!"_

_"And I'll take a million more so long as I'm in the guard! You quitting won't change a thing!"_

_"No, it will. Because you don't dive in front of others like you dive in front of me!"_

_"... How long have you known?"_

_"Noya, you're beside me 24/7, I've known since our second mission together..."_

_"Then you know just how much I need you!"_

_"Noya... I'm sorry-"_

_"NO! NO YOU'RE NOT! ... I'll quit!"_

_"What?!"_

_"I'll quit! Then you and I can live together in peace where we won't have to risk our li-"_

_"No Noya! With me gone, the guard will need you now more than ever! You can't quit!"_

_"I could if it'll make you happy!"_

_"I don't want you to regret anything!"_

_"I won't if it's with you!"_

_"Yuu, that's a lie and you know it..."_

_"I... I-"_

_"Yuu, if you really want me to be happy, stay in the guard. I'll rest easy knowing you're here to protect everyone, even if it's not to the degree you do with me..."_

_"... What's the point of staying if you're not here?" Tears began to roll down Nishinoya's cheek._

_"Yuu, please..."_

_"NO! NO! I WON'T ACCEPT THIS! I-" The vice-captain looked around, taking a torch off the wall and held it by the commander general's portrait._

_"Yuu, what are you-"_

_"YOU WANNA QUIT SO BADLY?! LET ME HELP YOU!" He screamed, holding the torch to the painting. In seconds, the linen canvas ignited, the flame spreading quickly. Asahi began to panic, trying to use the now extinguished torch to stop the flames, beating it with the stick._

_"THERE! YOU'RE ERASED FROM THE GUARD! NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW YOU WERE HERE!" screamed Nishinoya, running out of the gallery in tears. Asahi spared one more sad glance at Noya before focusing fully on putting out the flames. Fortunately, Tanaka jumped out suddenly, holding an empty flower vase in his hands, pouring its water content onto the blaze. It would take more than that to put out the flames, however._

"Woah..." was all Yamaguchi could muster. Hinata, on the other hand, was firing question after question at their storyteller.

"Wait, they were in love?!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, Noya was always painfully obvious. Kinoshita, Narita, even Ennoshita and I made bets as to when he'd finally man up and confess, haha. We just never expected his confession to go down like.. well, like that..."

"Wow! That sounds like one of those sappy, tragic love stories this one market lady always told but... real..." Hinata remarked. "Wait, but that painting is just dirty today. Shouldn't it be more... burnt?" 

"Well, obviously we weren't erasing Asahi from the guard, so we tried to get it restored. We had a painter do as much as she could but the canvas had to get resewn and Asahi wouldn't come back to paint a new one so... it's just... incomplete. And Suga was the one who couldn't bear seeing an incomplete painting so he just dirtied it to cover it up, nothing much there."

"So, what happened to Mr Noya after that? Was he caught?" Hinata asked yet another question.

"Yea, he couldn't exactly go far while bawling his eyes out. Dai- the king exiled him to the countryside but the man took it a step further and left the kingdom entirely. It was supposed to end last month but turns out, he was stuck in Seijoh! Who knew, right?"

"HOLD ON! Captain Tanaka, why were you there to put out the fire?!" Hinata piped in. His question caused the captain to grow red in the face. Everyone seemed to be doing it tonight.

"Uh... well... you see... I thought Noya was finally gonna confess so I wanted to... uh... be there to support my bro!"

"You just wanted to spy and win the bet, didn't you?" Yamaguchi deadpanned.

"HEY! Ennoshita bet a whole 100 Khun! No way was I losing out on that!"

* * *

Sugawara had actually finished up his business at the royal infirmary a while ago, informing Tsukishima and Kageyama to see Ennoshita for their impromptu awards ceremony once they've fully recovered. Taking (stealing) Tsukishima's invisibility cloak, he wandered the streets unseen back to the small grey concrete shack. The prime minister moves his fingers across the smooth, silky fabric, appreciating how soft it was. Gone were the times he asked Takeda for disguise advice and having to endure itchy unwashed regular cloaks, and in were the times of magic and technology!

He had come here late at night to give the shack's occupant the good news: Nishinoya was back! He also wanted to ask him his usual question: Will you come back? Unfortunately, the prime minister didn't have a basket of fruit this time, but he hoped the good news would make up for it. Once he arrived at the front door, he uncloaked and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Asahi, I know you're in there! I have something exciting to tell you! Though, if you watched the team with that potion, you probably already know but-"

"Yea, I know, Suga..." came a voice from his left. Sugawara turned, shocked to see the man outside his lowly little accommodation. There he was, standing before him, Azumane Asahi. He was tall and large, but his time in isolation had clearly done a number on his formerly muscular build. His dark brown eyes were puffy like he had been crying. His long, brown hair was styled as a bun behind his head and the short scruff on his chin had grown the last time Suga had seen him, which was reasonable since that was a month ago. The prime minister almost wondered how had it not grown longer.

"Asahi... what are you doing out so late at night?" The question made the former commander-general look down, embarrassed.

"... I was contemplating whether to see Noya or just leave him be..."

"SEE HIM! GO SEE HIM, PLEASE!" Sugawara practically exploded. No way was he wasting this rare opportunity of catching Asahi outside. Unfortunately, his outburst seemed to startle the larger man.

"Gah! Stop that! You're scaring me!" He cried as he shrunk away, just like how Suga remembered he'd do when they first joined the guard with Daichi. _Ahh, those were the days..._

"... It's just, he probably doesn't want to see me. Not after how we left it..."

"Are you kidding me?! The man never shut up about you even as he got exiled! He's head over heels for you!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Really! Now come with me!" Suga insisted, forcefully taking Asahi by the hand. They managed to move a few steps before the anxious former general sunk his feet into the ground.

"I-I can't, Suga."

"Asahi, you're not gonna hurt him-"

"Can't you see I already have?! I shouldn't have told him I was leaving-"

"Then he would've found out anyway! C'mon, you can still make amends-"

"NO, SUGA!" Asahi bellowed, startling the poor prime minister so hard he let go of his friend's hand. Inaudible teardrops began hitting the ground beneath their feet.

"You weren't there that night... you didn't see his face that night... it looked- it looked so-"

"Heartbroken?"

"Betrayed! Like I had just confessed to murdering his whole family or something!!... And yes, heartbroken..." Sugawara clasped the larger man's hand in his once more, pressing them against Asahi's chest.

"I'm not an idiot, Asahi. I may not have been there but I've seen him cry, so I know. But I also know he still loves you and wants to see you! He'll probably forgive you in the skip of a heartbeat if you ask for it. Heck! He might even have forgiven you already! Maybe-" Asahi pushed Suga's hand off of his, turned around and began to walk away.

"I'm sorry for disappointing yet again, Suga, but I can't... it hurts too much," he said, continuing back along the path. Sugawara called out to his friend, chased him, yelled at him, grabbed at him, doing everything he could to prevent him from going back into his shack. He ultimately failed, though, watching helplessly as the door locked right in front of him with a 'click'. As Suga banged against the door, begging his friend to open up, Asahi gave him some parting words.

"But the new team looks promising... I'm glad to see we're already doing better without me..."

Those last words stabbed Sugawara right in the heart, forcing the prime minister to slide down against the door till he was on his knees on the ground. Strange, raindrops were collecting into a little puddle in the dirt... but it wasn't raining.

* * *

Hinata found Nishinoya singing softly to himself while lying on the slope of the Karasuno Guard HQ training grounds. The rest of the guards had all tucked in for sleep by now. Now that he thought about it, Hinata wondered if anyone had publicised their return to the other guards, or maybe even the return of their vice-captain. Then again, Noya might not be their vice-captain by the end of the night.

" _Oh, would you be so kind as to fall in love with me?_ " Nishinoya's singing snapped Hinata out of his thoughts. His voice sounded kind of smooth, actually.

" _You see, I'm trying, I know you know that I like you but that's not enough,_ " continued the vice-captain, lost in his own head. Hinata smiled amusingly at the other man with hands behind his head, shaking it back and forth on the grass to the beat of his own singing. He had taken his shoes off, leaving his bare feet to wiggle to the rhythm as well.

" _So if you will, please fall in love._ " Though a sight that warmed Hinata's heart was seeing the wide, care-free smile on Nishinoya's face, completely different from his feral, energetic smile in the woods and his rage and resentment back at the palace. Here, it seemed he was at peace.

" _I think it's only fair, there's gotta be some butterflies somewhere, wanna share?_ " Hinata finally noticed he was unconsciously tapping his own foot to the vice-captain singing, gradually becoming more engrossed at how the words rolled off his tongue.

" _'Cause I like you but that's not enough, so if you will,_ " Hinata was full-on shaking his head too doing his own little jig as he made his way down the slope to where Nishinoya was lying down. Inside, he couldn't help but 'aww' at just how in love Noya was. Who was this Asahi and how dare he break his heart!

" _Please fall in love with-_ GAH!" Nishinoya jolted away the moment he felt a presence approach. He held out his hands in a cross defensively as if forgetting he had thrown his braces away, before loosening up upon seeing that it was Hinata.

"Oh, it's you, what do you want?" He asked, not abrasively per se, but definitely not cheerful either, considering he had just interrupted his song. Hinata pressed the tips of his two index fingers together, hanging his head low.

"Um... Captain Tanaka told us everything... about you, I mean!" This earned him a 'tsk' from the other guard.

"Of course Ryu told you everything. So? What are you gonna do? Tell me I'm being childish? 'Cause I-" Nishinoya began before Hinata cut in.

"No! No, not at all! I think it was pretty understandable for you to lash out as you did!"

"Pft, easy for you to say. What do you know about it?" With that, Nishinoya laid back down on his spot in the grass. Hinata copied him, moving closer to the vice-captain.

"Well, I don't know! Which is why I wanna ask you directly! How were you two before you fought? Were you the one who made the moves? Did he make moves?" Hinata asked, scrounging up whatever keywords he could remember from the wild tales from the market vendors. It seemed to work; Noya gave him an amused look before going on his own tale.

"Hah! You have guts, kid. If you really want to know, Hisashi always said I was really obvious. I was always first to volunteer for missions with him, always by his side in the thick of battle. Whenever he felt down, I'd always cheer him up. I even gave him flowers once but he didn't seem to put two-and-two together, or at least, that's what I thought. As for him, I honestly couldn't tell. He was just so kind to everyone no matter who they were, even bringing in some enemies into the medic tent once because they were bleeding out; bleeding out because of him, mind you!" That last sentence caused Hinata to giggle, failing to imagine an intimidating man panic over soldiers that he himself wounded.

"As much as I wanted to think he loved me back, my mind would always just convince itself that he was this way to everyone. But I've had a lot of time in prison to think, and it was there that I noticed all the little hints, like always waiting for me to finish training before leaving, beating the crap outta punks who injured me... he even treated me to lunch and dinner several times but my stupid-ass never caught on!" At this, Nishinoya covered his face, now red with embarrassment, screaming into the palms of his hands. Hinata chuckled lightly at this.

"Wow, that sounds so much like the gossip the aunties at the market would spin. So cheesy!" He remarked. Nishinoya punched him lightly in the arm, chuckling too.

"Hey! You have no right to judge my love life! What about you? Anyone you fancy?"

"You mean if I like anyone? Oh... well... I... don't think so? I mean, I get on with everyone quite well and they all seem to like me! Except for Stupidshima though, but he's mean to everyone so I don't count him!" Nishinoya was about to comment on how absurd it was to have everyone more or less like you in just a week, but then it happened: Hinata rolled over and flashed Nishinoya his megawatt smile.

"Because whenever I was down, my mom always told me to focus on the positive things! So I do- well, I try to... it's been tougher lately... but I do!" Nishinoya felt his heart squeeze, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks. Now he was inclined to believe Hinata's claim of him getting along with everyone because even though it was night, Hinata's joy seemed to light up the field.

"Though... I guess I do get along with Bakageyama a bit more than the others, but I've spent most of my time on the guard with him and he was the one who saved me, so that's pretty normal-"

"Hey... what was your name again?" Nishinoya interrupted.

"Oh, um, Hinata Shouyou!"

"Shouyou, huh... is it okay if I ask you something?"

"Yea?"

"I'm assuming Ryu told you about the burnt painting?"

"Oh, yea! Though, if you feel bad about that, you'll be glad to know it's been restored... more or less... I guess Mr Asahi needs to come back to re-"

"Do you think Asahi hates me?"

"Huh?" Hinata blinked, confused at what he had just heard.

"After what I did, to his portrait, to him... do you think he'll hate me now?"

"No! No of course not! If Mr Asahi hated you, he wouldn't have tried to leave!"

"But I didn't want him to leave! I never wanted him to leave! Why would he do that if he knew I loved him?"

"Well, maybe to him, leaving was the only way to get you to... calm down?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, from what Captain Tanaka told me, you seemed to protect Mr Asahi more fiercely than any other guard. And well, that's also how you almost died, so maybe Mr Asahi felt that if he was gone, you'd chill out more? Not risk your life as much?"

_Woah, this kid's pretty perceptive.._ thought Nishinoya. (He wasn't wrong, but considering Hinata's other blunders, he wasn't completely right either.)

"Maybe... but so what? I survived!"

"Well, Mr Asahi sounds like the responsible type, so he probably blames himself for even getting you injured in the first place," Hinata suggested, trying to recall as much detail from Tanaka's story on the fly.

"But- I mean, he's always been really empathetic. He'd cry with children who lost their parents in battle and then swear to avenge them, so yea... I just thought... because I'm still alive, he wouldn't shoulder the blame..."

"Whatever his reason was, he probably still loves you! Though I haven't actually met him yet... but even so, there's still hope!"

"... You really think so?"

"Yea! If a weak rookie like me could go on a mission to Seijoh, anything's possible!"

"Pfft! Yea, you look pretty weak," Nishinoya teased. This time it was Hinata's turn to punch the other in the arm.

"Hey! Just because I admitted it, doesn't mean you need to say it again!" The two laughed hard for a few seconds before Nishinoya managed to stop and stood up.

"Say Shouyou, what do you think is your weakest skill right now, combat-wise?"

"Um... probably my defence honestly. I messed up pretty badly against that Seijoh lieutenant." Hinata went on to recount his scuffle with Watari, Nishinoya chuckling heartily in response.

"Yeah, that reflector mage's ability is super cool! But sounds like you got schooled by his tactics rather than his ability," the vice-captain commented.

"Yeah, which is why I need to work on my defence! So that when I make mistakes like that, I can take it!"

"Hmmm, that's gonna need more than defence training... Shouyou?"

"Yes?"

"Whaddaya say I train you?" Hinata blinked, taking a moment to process his proposition, before exploding into a flurry of 'GUWAH' and 'YAY', making Nishinoya's heart clench even more.

"Really?! That's awesome!! I'd be honoured!! I can't believe I get to be trained by Karasuno's guardian deity!" Nishinoya paused at those words, asking Hinata where he heard the term 'guardian deity'.

"Oh, his majesty called you that in passing, said Karasuno couldn't lose its guardian deity!"

"Tsk, bastard wants to lure me in with a catchy name... he really said that?" Nishinoya asked, his face turning pink.

"Yea! That must mean you're really good at defence, right?!"

"Uh, yeah, who else got Asahi, Ryu, etcetera out of sticky sitches time and time again?" Nishinoya asked. The smirk on his face indicated he was fishing for compliments.

"Hooray! Does that mean you'll rejoin the guard?"

"Woah there, Shouyou. Let's not get ahead of ourselves! My terms to come back are still the same! Either Asahi comes back with me, or nadda!"

"Aww, but everyone's been waiting for your return..."

"I'm sure they have, but I'm sorry, I-" Noya was then startled by Hinata giving puppy eyes.

"Hey! Hey, stop doing that! How are your eyes even doing that-"

"Please, we need you, Nishi... **Vice-Captain Nishinoya!** "

_Vice-Captain Nishinoya..._ that was just his title, so why did Nishinoya feel like an arrow just pierced his heart?

"... Say that again?"

"We really need you back on the guard, **Vice-Captain Nishinoya, sir!** "

_Crap! He added the 'sir'! I... I... WHAT IS THIS FEELING?!_

Nishinoya hung his head low, face turning dark, scaring Hinata slightly.

"Um... Vice-Captain Nishino-"

" **You...** "

"Eep! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I-"

"You... I'm buying you ice cream first thing in the morning..."

"I'm sor- eh?" Nishinoya rose to face Hinata, a wild grin plastered on his face. He put a hand on the orange-haired boy's shoulder while pointing to himself.

" **Because I'm your awesome vice-captain!** "

* * *

**Bonus scene:**

"Sir, what does ice cream taste like?" asked Hinata.

"What?! You never had ice cream before?!" exclaimed Nishinoya.

"They don't sell it in the market!"

"Oh! Yea, 'cause it'll melt, plus it's kinda expensive. You'll have better luck finding them in the bigger stores inside buildings. Don't worry, I know a great place! Trust your vice-captain!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the song Nishinoya was singing to himself is 'Would You Be So Kind' by Dodie; the link to the audio is below. Inspiration (plagiarism) to use the song for AsaNoya is from 'Haikyuu!! Ship Theme Songs' on The Monochrome_Weeb's channel. Go check both videos out!
> 
> The song: [Would You Be So Kind](https://youtu.be/5SVr4cayxIU)  
> The music compilation: [Haikyuu!! Ship Theme Songs](https://youtu.be/xGKs8IumTkY)


	16. A king's request

As the first rays of dawn broke through the morning mist, Nishinoya was standing patiently by the entrance to Sakanoshita General Store, kicking at a tiny pebble. The clerk came out, a feather duster in hand and cigarette in mouth, making small talk with the vice-captain as he dusted the crates holding fruit outside.

"Waiting for someone, kid?" He asked while picking up an apple and looking it over. The admittedly short guard seemed to take offence to that.

"Hey! I'm 19! And yes! I am waiting for someone!"

"Woah, okay man. It's just you look a tad bit too small for your age," the clerk responded bluntly, exhaling a puff of smoke after. Nishinoya was fuming at this point.

"Oh yeah?! Then what about you?! How old are you, ya old geezer?!" The blond man remained calm, perhaps because it was still early in the morning and he did not have the energy for an argument right now.

"I'll crack 30 in a few weeks, so drop a gift off by then, April 5th." And with that, the clerk finished up his cleaning and went back into the store, leaving a pissed-off Nishinoya stomping his feet out in the streets, cursing at the audacity of this man. Like, does he know who he is?! He's the freaking Vice-Captain of the Karasuno Guard! He ought to have him arrested! Wait, but then Suga would reprimand him for abuse of power, then Ennoshita would get in on it, and then he'd be in deep shi-

"Vice-Captain Nishinoya, sir! Sorry, I'm late!" _Ah... Vice-Captain Nishinoya... music to my ears..._

"Shouyou! You made it!" He exclaimed, a wide grin replacing his angry frown. Nishinoya looked the panting rookie up and down, taking in his work-out clothes and sweaty orange hair. _Had he been running?_ he thought. 

Almost like he read his mind, Hinata swiftly replied, "I was out jogging! Usually, I'd do it with Bakageyama, but he's still in the infirmary, and it's not like I was about to let go of an opportunity to get ahead of him, so I circled the whole HQ thrice and then came here!"

"Um... you mean the HQ building itself?"

"Nope! The whole complex!"

_Geez, is this kid nuts?! No wonder he was accepted into the guard!_ Pushing his curious thoughts away, Nishinoya patted his subordinate on the back, rambling excitedly about how he was gonna enjoy ice cream. He pointed Hinata to a menu selection of flavours, who immediately went starry-eyed and hollered the flavours out loud. Meanwhile, Nishinoya was glaring hard at the store clerk, who paid him no mind, focusing on his newspaper instead, chiming in only to confirm Hinata's choice of orange-flavoured ice cream.

* * *

Takeda had taken Sugawara's advice (read: insistence) on using the newly invented invisibility cloak to approach his usual destination: Sakanoshita General Store. Honestly speaking, it was indeed much softer and cleaner than the dirty normal cloaks he had been using before. Not to mention, the invisibility.

"Thanks for visiting. Please come again," came an unenthusiastic voice whom Takeda recognised belonged to the clerk. The people he was thanking was in fact two little boys skipping out of the store, ice cream tins in hand.

"And return the tins by tonight!" the clerk hollered out this time, prompting the boys to turn back and give their affirmation. Upon closer inspection, the secretary-general finally recognised the unmistakable orange hair of Hinata Shouyou and the familiar blond tuft of Nishinoya Yuu.

_Right, they did say they rescued Nishinoya from Seijoh_... _so... not 'boys' then..._

Once the two were far off into the distance, Takeda uncloaked, peering into the window, watching the blond man dusting the shelves of his store while humming a tune to himself. The black-haired man wondered for a moment whether he should leave the clerk be. After all, is Nishinoya was to be believed, Seijoh could be at their doorstep really soon. He quickly shook his doubt away, reasoning that Nekoma would be a great ally to them.

" _Hmm hm hm hmmm hm-_ HOLY MOTHER OF GARASU, F*CK, SH*T, WHAT THE F*CK?!" cursed the clerk once he noticed Takeda (creepily) staring at him through the window. Fuming with adrenaline coursing through his veins, the blond man dashed outside and threw his duster at the secretary-general.

"What the- could you be any more stalkerish?! I told you! I'm not joining the council! So take your creepy-ass and scram!" The blond man had dropped his cigarette in his anger and fright, leaving him with nothing to calm himself, only waving his fist angrily at the other man. Takeda, however, remained unfazed, instead, bowing a full 90 degrees, frustrating the clerk even more.

"Lord Ukai, please, the court needs your input-"

"See! That's just your problem! You just want the Ukai name! You don't actually need me! And stop calling me 'lord'!"

"Yes, the Ukai name would make your induction smoother, but as things stand, as a former lieutenant and with your in-depth understanding of politics, you are the perfect candidate for the position of chief advisor-"

"Yeah, no! Na ah! Politics was gramps job! I got all my knowledge from him! So what you need isn't me, it's my gramps!"

"The Lord Ukai Ikkei has not responded to any of my letters since his accident, and Karasuno is in desperate need of a chief advisor!"

"I swear to Garasu, you're the most stubborn person I know! Give me one good reason why I should even consider your offer!" As if waiting for that specific demand, Takeda smiled and handed him a rolled-up parchment, Ukai snatching it roughly.

"What's this?" He asked while scanning the text.

"It's a request for a state visit from Nekoma. I have already sent a reply to them telling them 'yes', we will accept them." Ukai's eyes grew wide, glancing at Takeda in disbelief before rereading the scroll again.

"I have even gotten the king's approval and sent an official, more formal reply earlier this morning, so the event is set in stone. Envoys from Nekoma will be here by the end of the month," explained Takeda. Ukai squinted at the text this time, reading it word-by-word, before growling and throwing the parchment at Takeda. Once again, the other man didn't flinch.

"You won't get me like this! I know you're just tryna lure me in with this... this... tempting piece of paper! I won't fall for it! You guys can handle your own sh*t!" He then grumpily folded his arms and turned away.

"You must've read that part of the visit will include a _Nise Proelium*_ , the traditional mock battle. With the state that the guard is in now, as well as recent endeavours in Seijoh, we will lose."

"So? It's not like they'll refuse an alliance just because you lose a stupid whatever _Proelium_! In fact, you might wanna lose, stroke their egos a bit!"

"This is a matter of national pride. We may lose, sure, but we do not want to lose _spectacularly_. We need to prove to not only Nekoma that we are a kingdom worth helping, but also to the people that Karasuno is not weak, and inspire them to be proud of their nation and its efforts!" Takeda paused, standing tall, a hand over his chest. Ukai, meanwhile, grumbled, his eyes closed, a sign he was actually thinking it through.

"So please, I beg you, be our chief advisor, Sir **Ukai Keishin**!" Takeda didn't bow this time, instead, yelling it out for the streets to hear. Not that they would've cared, it was still too early for the market to truly come to life. 

The clerk remained still, asking in a rough voice, "Naoi will be there as their chief advisor, right?"

"Technically, no. Lord Naoi Manabu will be their **assistant** chief advisor. Their chief advisor is Lord **Nekomata Yasufumi**." And with that, Ukai slammed his fist into the wall of his store, startling the secretary-general. Turning back to face him, Ukai had a disgruntled face, taking off his apron and folding it in his hands.

"Well, then what are you waiting for, specs?! I can't let my juniors embarrass themselves in front of our old rivals!! Go tell the damn court I'm in! I'm joining the council!"

Internally, Takeda was jumping for joy, screaming and yelling at his victory. He was running through the streets, broadcasting the news to anyone who would listen. He had magically summoned a carriage to race Ukai back to the palace. Externally, he was calm and simply gave the soon-to-be chief advisor a warm smile.

"Thank you! Thank you for your acceptance, Sir Ukai!" The secretary-general bowed once more before excusing himself.

"Oh, and tell them that I'll be bringing a few friends along too!" Takeda paused briefly at that, wondering whom the blond man could be referring to. Ultimately, he decided not to do anything that would ruin his hard-fought battle.

"... Whatever you need, Sir Ukai!"

"And drop the 'sir' too!"

* * *

Kageyama had showered, dried himself off, and packed his toiletries into the bag provided, all in a brisk 20 minute period, a few minutes quicker than Hinata had done the last time they woke up together. Haha! He's so gonna one-up that tangerine the next time they get up in the morning.

Though, there's a lot on his mind right now. Last night, when he had woken up, Sugawara had come to him. At first, he was his normal, caring self, asking him how he was doing, bringing him a fruit basket, the whole shebang. But after he had confirmed that Kageyama was okay, the prime minister began questioning him on, well, Seijoh. In particular, Suga was interested in his encounter with Oikawa.

'Did it jog any more memories?' and 'We could really use as much intel as possible' were the main questions asked. Truth be told, Kageyama did awaken more memories in that whole encounter, so much so that he practically had his whole childhood pieced together already, with only a few gaps left in between. However, he didn't tell all of it to Suga. Partly because he felt like dumb childhood memories didn't matter, Suga already knew the broad strokes, which was all that was necessary. Mostly, however, was because Kageyama wasn't yet comfortable to divulge his whole life story yet. It wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows, and he himself didn't even understand some of the politics that went behind some events. Heck, he wasn't even that old, only being 10 years old when Suga had found him, so any memories he did get back were slightly fuzzy. As such, he chose to withhold some details, preferring to give the whole story once he made sense of it himself. Instead, he had told Suga more details he recalled of Kindaichi and Kunimi, which seemed to satisfy him enough.

Now, he was preparing for his discharge from the infirmary, new thoughts swirling in his mind. He was now back from his first major mission since his demotion to the Yukiga Fields outpost. From what Suga had told him, it was technically a success since they managed to rescue their vice-captain during it and he had tons of intel to give. Kageyama didn't even realise their vice-captain had gone missing, being stuck in the countryside post when it happened, so he was certainly curious to meet him. But back on topic, would the rest of the guards give him praise for a mission he technically completed? Surely bringing back the vice-captain was worth something, right?

_Face it Tobio, those guys have it out for you. They're probably gonna harp on about how I barely did anything, mocking me for taking a nap when facing Seijoh's king... although, do they know the specific details of what happened? Eh, even if they don't, they won't respect me anyway. They'll just say it was all the lieutenants' handiwork, or Captain Tanaka's, or even Tsukishima's or Yamaguchi... maybe even the dumbass! Be real Tobio, nothing's gonna change-_

"U-um, excuse me?" asked a sweet, timid voice. Kageyama turned to see a petite blonde girl with a bright blue star hair clip had entered his room. The clip was holding up a cute little left side ponytail while her brown eyes gave away her anxiety. She was in the typical medic uniform and had a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.

"You're... Kageyama Tobio, right?" she asked softly. Kageyama nodded, squinting at her in response, finding her hair clip fascinatingly adorable. The medic, however, jumped back in fright, shielding her face with the clipboard.

"Uh-uh, I'm your assigned medic, uh... Yachi Hitoka! Y-you gotta sign this discharge form before you go!" She explained, shoving the clipboard into his face.

"I'll need something to write with-"

"Yes of course! Now please don't kill me!!" The patients passing by the room were giving the two weird looks, particularly at Kageyama because all it seemed like to them was this huge scary guy threatening a poor innocent little medic girl. Kageyama responded to them with a pained expression, desperately explaining to them that nothing bad was happening, he wasn't threatening her, she just suddenly started panicking. It didn't help.

After a good minute of this frustration, the archer mage got fed up and snatched the pen out of Yachi's other hand and signed the form.

"There! Signed! Now please stop making me look like an ass!" Kageyama exclaimed. Yachi gave a nod and a squeak and quickly scampered away. The raven-head groaned. Just as he thought, his image probably wasn't gonna improve anytime soon. When he stepped into the reception hall, Kinoshita was there, perking up when he saw him.

"Hey! Kageyama! I'm here to pick ya up!" he announced, waving at the boy.

"Uh, hey, sir... why are you here to pick me up?"

"'Cause his majesty wants to see ya, that's why! Just hang on tight, I'll get you there in two seconds flat!" Kinoshita declared, spreading his large, black wings.

* * *

"C'mon Shouyou! You got this!" cheered Nishinoya. He didn't know whether to laugh lightly or laugh hard at Hinata's blatant incompetence at blocking shots. Sure, swordsmen weren't required to be good at defence, that was the defender class' job. But most, if not all swordsmen were capable of deflecting incoming shots with their sword so long as the shots themselves weren't too powerful. In fact, if the vice-captain were to put up a scale, defender mages could tank the strongest hits, then reflector mages, then swordsman mages, then cavalry and ranged mages at joint last place for not being able to tank any hits at all, at least, not with magic. But ranged mages were the ones firing the shots and cavalry mages were the best at evasion, so it balanced out.

"Gah!" Hinata yelled after getting knocked back again by the magic bolts fired by the training machine. He had managed to block a few shots, about 3 to 5%, but those were deemed flukes by Nishinoya as the orange-haired boy failed at every other one. For some reason, he just couldn't get the timing right. 

"Sir! Can we switch back to 'regular' fire-rate!?" Hinata begged.

"No can do, Shou! Ranged mages aren't gonna fire in an orderly fashion in a real fight! I'm leaving the 'random' fire rate on! But hey! You're improving! In just an hour, you've managed to go from blocking 1 every 100 shots to 2 every 100 shots! If you keep that up, it'll just take 98 more hours to master blocking with a sword!" Hinata groaned, feeling his muscles beginning to ache and his legs were beginning to wobble. Fortunately, Nishinoya seemed to notice this.

"Actually, now that I think about it, you've been at this non-stop for an hour. Go take a break! You'll only do worse if you push it!" The vice-captain ordered, switching off the machine. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, and with Nishinoya's arm around his shoulders, the two made their way back into the HQ building for a drink.

"Hm, how much of a crow magic baby are ya? 'Cause maybe if you see me busting out the moves, you'll get the hang of it quicker?" Nishinoya suggested, downing a bottle of water.

"Um, is that how our magic works? I'm don't really know myself..."

"Well, I'm not too sure either, magic and mana mumbo jumbo never interested me unless it helped me beat others butts better!" replied Nishinoya playfully, stifling some giggles from Hinata, which stifled chuckling from Nishinoya because the vice-captain found his recruit's laugh cute. Back and forth, soon the two were laughing fueled only by each other.

"Okay, that's enough sunshine for the day!" came a casual voice. The two boys, seemingly equal age despite being born four years apart, turned their heads to see an awestruck Narita, their laughter dying down and morphing into two radiant smiles.

"Kazu! Good to see ya this morning!" greeted Nishinoya.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Narita, sir!" greeted Hinata. Narita felt his chest tighten, this much purity should be illegal.

"Good morning, you two. As much as I'd like to let you guys continue whatever training you were doing, his majesty has requested to see Hinata." The guard in question pointed to himself as if to say 'me?'. Narita nodded and politely invited Hinata to follow him.

"Ooh! Ole' king man wants to see ya? ... Did you get into trouble, Shouyou?" inquired a now concerned Nishinoya, preparing to stand in between the lieutenant and the rookie. This scared Hinata, him trying to back away slightly

"Haha, don't worry Noya. He's not in any sort of trouble! Though... what exactly he wants Hinata for... I can't say. But it's nothing bad, I'm sure of that!"

* * *

"Aha! You're late!" teased a smirking Kinoshita. He and Kageyama were waiting at an open field at the back of the palace grounds, watching the other lieutenant and the rookie walking towards them.

"With you? Nobody's late, you're just too early," retorted Narita, a hand over his chest like he was offended, though his grin indicated he was just playing.

"Yamayama!!" exclaimed Hinata.

"Dumbass!!" scolded Kageyama for no reason.

"My my, I did not expect for you all to be arguing right off the bat. Do none of you know how to respect your king?" came an authoritative voice. The four guards quickly stopped their shenanigans and bowed before their king, who had just arrived with an entourage of palace guards behind him. Daichi, after giving them permission to stand, dismissed Kinoshita, Narita and his entourage, saying he needed to be left alone with Kageyama and Hinata, confusing the two guards in question, to say the least. Both of them already had a million possible scenarios playing out in their heads regarding whatever the king needed to discuss with them.

Hinata was quietly panicking, wondering if Daichi was going to inquire about his encounter with Iwaizumi, and how he had blabbered out his whole identity in front of him. Perhaps he had wanted to spare Hinata from embarrassment when they came back and was now going to reprimand him privately. But if that were the case, why have Stupidyama here? And wouldn't it be Captain Tanaka handling such a thing? Still, even though Narita said he wasn't in trouble, the little tangerine couldn't help but bite his lip in nervousness.

Kageyama, meanwhile, was wondering if Daichi was attempting to extract more memories of Seijoh from him as Suga had done. Surely the prime minister would tell the king about his origins, right? Maybe that's why he was sent on the mission in the first place! Maybe he was sent there to jog his memory! Still, he had no idea what he was gonna say. Again, it's not like his memories were all clear. He remembered Oikawa, Kindaichi and Kunimi, but the rest was fuzzy, not to mention there was a huge gap in between him getting exiled and now.

Daichi cleared his throat, grabbing the two's attention.

"No doubt you both are wondering why I summoned you here. I'll get straight to the point, you two need to fight together more," said the king, arms crossed. 

"Huh?" the two rookies asked in unison, their faces showing what could only be described as 'someone just said 'yes' to a non-yes/no question'.

"From what little you showed in the initiation, I could tell that both of you have near-perfect synergy- well, **potentially** near-perfect synergy."

"Huh?!" they said again.

"But he sucks!" argued Kageyama.

"But he's stubborn!" argued Hinata. Before the two could butt heads, Daichi cleared his throat once again.

"Surely you felt it? No? I recall Kageyama quoting ' **so long as I'm here, you're invincible** ' while on your way to Seijoh. Is that not evidence of your synergy?"

"Uhh..." Hinata responded. _I mean, I thought that was more of an encouragement thing Yamayama did to get me back up on my feet. Can that really be considered synergy?_

"Uhh..." Kageyama responded. _I mean, I sorta did that in the spur of the moment 'cause the dumbass was dragging us down... is that really synergy?_

"And yet in Seijoh, the two of you were mostly separated, despite the fact you would be so much stronger together," Daichi continued, "would you please demonstrate the usual swordsman-ranged class combo attack?"

Whatever concerns the two had before were immediately replaced with a string of ?????????????. But no matter what they thought, they were given a request by the king, so to perform a combo attack it was.

Hinata unsheathed his sword, getting into a battle stance. Kageyama scoffed at the other's poor form as he readied his bow, a black magic bolt appearing.

"Aim it at the wall back there, Hinata," Daichi instructed. On a brief count of three by Kageyama, the archer released his shot. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Hinata swatted it towards the assigned target, with the resultant bolt making a significant dent in the concrete wall. Daichi smiled.

"You see? You didn't miss it."

"To be fair, your majesty, it's not like he could miss a huge wall," protested Kageyama.

"No, not the wall, your shot," said Daichi before turning to Hinata. "You and Kageyama had near-perfect timing on that attack."

"So? A swordsman is supposed to hit a ranged mage's bolt, aren't they?" Hinata questioned.

"But Kageyama's bolts are the fastest in Karasuno, did you know that?" Hinata blinked. Sure, Tanaka and Yamaguchi had gone off about how talented Kageyama was, but having the quickest bolts in the kingdom? Like, he knew they were quick... just not **the** quickest.

"The fact that you, a rookie with such poor form and barely capable at anything beyond casting a slash, can somehow hit the fastest magic bolts in the country is virtually unbelievable, so the only explanation that even remotely makes sense is that you two just... 'click'," Daichi described. Hinata and Kageyama tilted their heads to the side like two confused puppies. Yes, they got what Daichi was saying, but his explanation was still kind of absurd. They had barely known each other for about two weeks, so how could they be so in sync combat-wise?

"Um, your majesty, I don't think me and this shrimp have any special synergy or whatever. If anything, I'm just good at shooting towards his sword. He swings kind of erratically, so I just predict where he's swinging to and aim there," Kageyama argued. Daichi held his chin, contemplating the archer's words. Hinata, meanwhile, was looking at Kageyama, starry-eyed.

"You mean you can guess where I'm gonna swing to?! B-but I'm so quick!"

"Yeah but my bolts are quicker. Plus, every good ranged mage has to be good at predicting where their swordsmen are aiming at to judge what strength the bolts need to be, what angle they're fired at, and how many shots are required to accomplish whatever the goal is," blurted Kageyama as if he wasn't relaying any important information. The stars in Hinata's eyes only brightened, unleashing a string of 'GUWAH's at the other guard, failing to notice the light blush creeping up the raven-head's cheeks.

"That does make more sense... but Hinata's athleticism shouldn't be downplayed. He's physically adept enough to keep up with you and you're talented enough to take advantage of that. If anything, my theory still stands, just in a different way. You two don't magically click, you clicked because your skillsets allowed you to," the king concluded. The two rookies looked at each other, silently pondering the king's words and each other's abilities. It was like the two were assessing each other without the biases of previous experiences.

"Hence, you two should be developing your skills as a duo more alongside your personal training." Daichi put a hand on each of their shoulders, " Because we will need such teamwork in the upcoming weeks."

"Why? Ooh! Are we going on another mission?!" asked Hinata excitedly. He was shut down by the Karasuno king shaking his head.

"Nope, you're not even going abroad this time. You're staying here."

"So why would you need our teamwork when it's not a mission?" asked Kageyama, wrapping his bow behind his back.

"Because we have a state visit coming up by the Kingdom of Nekoma, and we'll have to participate in a _Nise Proelium_." The two rookies went wide-eye, that is before Hinata went all confused again.

"Wait, Nekoma? _Nise... Nise_ what?!"

"A _Nise Proelium_ , dumbass! It's a mock battle between selected teams from kingdoms engaged in diplomatic ceremonies to test each other's mettle," Kageyama explained.

"And the rewards of the battle vary. The winning kingdom can earn some things as trivial as bragging rights, to more serious things like treasures and rewards. But never must a kingdom demand another's subservience or even surrender as a reward for a _Nise Proelium_. That will be more of a... spoils of war in an invasion kind of matter," added Daichi.

"... subser- what?"

"Ugh, basically a mock battle victory cannot be used to take over the other kingdom, got it, dumbass?"

"HEY! No need to be so rude about it!"

"But even so, losing such a battle can leave quite the stain on national pride, especially for a struggling kingdom like ours. It is imperative we win this, or at least put up one hell of a fight," Daichi declared. He looked at the two guards gravely, his face darkening. "Which is why I am assigning the very same scouting team, your team, to participate in this battle, considering it is comprised of the most promising talent in the guard."

Hinata and Kageyama could feel the pressure emanating off of Daichi. They saluted, letting the stakes of the situation sink in.

"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!"

"And also, I'll need to add Nishinoya to your team. He's the best reflector mage we have after all."

_Yeah, that makes sense. Vice-Captain Noya is awesome!_ thought Hinata.

"And considering we'll need all the power we have, I have a favour to ask. Not an order, nor a demand, just a request as a citizen of Karasuno." Hinata and Kageyama unconsciously leaned in closer in anticipation. 

"Please, help us convince Asahi to return."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *(pronunciation: Nee-say, pro-ee-lee-um). Nise is Japanese while Proelium is Latin, literally translates to 'fake battle', so nothing special.
> 
> This was me trying to make up for the fact that I really haven't developed Hinata and Kageyama as a duo all that well. Hopefully, as I write more battles I can pair them up more!


	17. A general's regrets

It was a peaceful afternoon in the Karasuno Guard HQ. Nishinoya was greeted by his various underlings (many of whom were taller than him but don't say it out loud). Everyone was actually shocked to see him after his rather dramatic exit, expecting him to have permanently left, but seeing the blond tuft hand free of wild brown hair wander around the training grounds prompted plenty of 'welcome back!'s and salutes. And Nishinoya was absolutely basking in the attention. Maybe the praises from Hinata made him more needy of 'Vice-Captain Nishinoya' salutes because he was having an absolute high right now. He wondered how the girls' side was doing... would Michimiya even let him in?

"NOYA!!!" came a gruff, pained voice. The vice-captain turned back to see Tanaka barrelling towards him, roughly slamming his hands on the shorter man's shoulders.

"Ryu?! What's wrong?!"

"Noya!! Have you seen Lady Kiyoko?!" Nishinoya blinked. Then, his eyes went heart-shaped.

"Lady Kiyoko is here?! Where is our queen?!" he asked.

"You don't know either?! Dang!!"

"Wait! She's missing?!"

"YEAH! I haven't seen her since we came back from Seijoh!!"

"WHAAAAA?! No way dude!"

"Yes way dude!"

"Wait, why are you specially looking for her now?"

"Bro, you wouldn't believe it!"

"What wouldn't I believe?"

"Lady Kiyoko... PROMISED ME DINNER!!"

"WWWHHHHHAAAAAA?!"

"Yeah! She said she'd go to dinner with me when I came back from the mission!"

"My man Ryu! Look at you! Moving up in the world! Go get her, dude!"

"I will once I find her!"

"Ugh, I knew it was gonna be even noisier the moment I saw you in the forest..." came a voice filled with absolute, unadulterated disgust. Tanaka immediately knew who it was and began rolling up his sleeves. Noya didn't immediately know who it was but readied his fists anyway.

"Hey! What'd you just say to us pun- hey! You're that blond dude that got paralysed in the forest!" Nishinoya remarked, recognising a now very repulsed Tsukishima.

"Yeah, and you're that vice-captain that threw a baby tantrum when you got rejected by your crush." Now that had steam pouring out of Noya's ears, his face growing dark. 

"Ohh... **you're dead to me** ," said Noya threateningly, his voice deepening by what sounded like a whole octave. The two buddies revved themselves to give Tsukishima the beating of a lifetime, and blood would've spilt had Yamaguchi not charged in between them on his broomstick.

"Ahhhh! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Tsukki didn't mean it! I swear!"

"Oh, I meant everything I said. What kind of vice-captain quits because of a rejected love confession?" rebuked Tsukishima. Yamaguchi reversed his broom, hitting the blond guard in the abdomen hard with the brush (as hard as a broom brush can anyway). The green-haired boy then dropped to his knees in front of the captain and vice-captain, his hands pleading.

"Please! Don't hurt him! I swear I'll make sure he doesn't do something like this again!" The poor boy was basically hitting his head against the grass at this point. It worked though, Tanaka withdrew his sword and sighed.

"I doubt it kiddo, but you're a good enough kid that I'll let it slide... again. Besides, I'm not actually out for blood... not to my own recruits anyway. Y'know what, whatever! Just keep your pal under control!" Tanaka warned, marching off to scold some recruits who were slacking off. Nishinoya, on the other hand, glared hard at Tsukishima as he stormed off growling, not letting his eyes off of him till he was a good distance away. Yamaguchi heaved a huge sigh of relief, taking his time to stand up. Sweat from the stressful situation was pouring down his face. Yet after all this, Tsukishima seemed to figure that the appropriate response was a light 'tsk'. 

"What the heck is wrong with you, Tsukki?!" chided Yamaguchi.

"What? They wouldn't have been so pissed if it wasn't the truth," Tsukishima argued. His childhood friend punched him hard in the shoulder.

"They're our captain and vice-captain! Even if it was the truth, we should at least show them respect!"

"Pft, a coward like that short little vice-captain shouldn't even be in the guard."

"Tsukki-"

"Shut up Yamaguchi!"

"I- fine! I'm gonna go train with Mr Kinoshita. Do whatever you want!" And with one last huff, Yamaguchi marched off, away from Tsukishima.

It's not like Tsukishima was oblivious to his behaviour. He knew he was being far too rude, he just didn't care enough. In his eyes, everyone in the guard was either weak in combat or incompetent at their duties. Not that that didn't extend to him, but he felt his superiors weren't capable enough for their positions. That much was clear when they were getting their asses handed to them in Seijoh, where their captain and vice-captain easily cornered him, Tanaka and Narita, them only escaping by his quick thinking and luck. Not to mention, he had a coward of his own in his family...

"Everyone back into the HQ building!! There's a news broadcast from the palace!!" yelled some guards, running down the slope, announcing their message for all in the training grounds to hear. Tsukishima sighed, expecting another budget change announcement, or another housing plan for the homeless. These were nice, of course, but weren't anything exciting that demanded one's attention. In spite of this, he made his way with the rest of the 'mindless drones' towards the main building.

Inside, Narita had set up a broadcast screen that emerged from a potion. By Tsukishima's observations, this potion vial could be used many times before running out as even a single drop produced a mini-sized fume screen fit for one person. Of course, this was a massive screen, so a puddle could be seen on the floor.

Press secretary Shimizu Kiyoko's (admittedly) beautiful face appeared on screen, bringing about plenty of swooning and wolf-whistling. Much to his disgust, the 'so-called' Captain and Vice-Captain of the Guard were howling the poor woman's name.

"LADY KIYOKO!!!" _Ugh! I don't know why Yamaguchi says I should respect them._

"Good afternoon, citizens of Karasuno. Thank you for tuning into this afternoon's broadcast from the royal palace. I am Shimizu Kiyoko and I will be delivering these announcements."

"AHHHH!! SHE'S SO PRETTY!!" cried Nishinoya.

"STEP ON ME PLEASE!!" cried Tanaka.

_I swear to Garasu... Lady Shimizu, please hurry up with it._ Tsukishima complained.

"Now, onto the first item. The Karasuno Administrative Council has recently overseen the formation of a scouting team as an offshoot of the Karasuno Guard. They are mainly tasked with covert operations given to them directly by the council."

"Oh yea, that happened!" said one guard.

"What happened by the way? Captain Tanaka and they all are back but we don't actually know how they did," piped another. Tsukishima could see Tanaka and Nishinoya snickering in the corner, looking all smug and proud.

"Just yesterday, they returned from their first assigned mission: a small scouting operation in the Kingdom of Seijoh. The royal court is proud to announce that all seven members returned home safe and successful, even orchestrating the return of Karasuno's Vice-Captain of the Guard, who has given us valuable intel on our neighbour's intentions."

As much as he wanted to deny it, there was just something about hearing all the guards 'oooh's, 'Woah's and 'that's awesome's that filled Tsukishima's heart with smug pride. Like yes, praise him more! Because he was really one of the only ones pulling his own weight here! And while they're at it, praise Yamaguchi too! And... yea... maybe the captain... and the two lieutenants... and...

_Sigh, just thinking about those two makes me depressed. Now my mood is ruined. No praise will ever bring me back up from this._

Tsukishima was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the press secretary had already moved on.

"The next item, arguably the more pressing matter at hand, is that we shall be receiving an official state visit from the Kingdom of Nekoma."

_... What?_

"As of now, all members of the Administrative Council have been made aware of this momentous event. Envoys from Nekoma will be arriving on Karasuno soil in two weeks."

_... WHAT?!_

"Hey! What does she mean 'all members of the Administrative Council'?! Excuse me, I wasn't notified!!" yelled Tanaka. Nishinoya was rolling on the ground in laughter, hysterically suggesting that he wasn't informed because Lady Kiyoko was avoiding the captain. He wasn't gonna lie, Tsukishima was finding it difficult to suppress his own snicker at the captain's misfortune. But back to the main point: they were receiving a state visit?!

"Nekoma? Isn't that in the Tokyo region? Across the Suiiki Strait?!"

"That's so far!"

"I think they're rather inland as well! My geography teacher used to say how they were practically isolated in the Qahila Desert!"

"They're a desert kingdom?! That sounds so cool!"

"And they're willing to come all the way here?! That sounds too good to be true!"

_Yea random guard #155 whose name I won't bother to know, that does sound too good to be true._

"Due to the geographical distance between the Miyagi and Tokyo regions, this offer may understandably sound suspicious. However, the secretary-general has confirmed the authenticity of the visit by way of this officially sealed letter." Kiyoko proceeded to show a rather formal looking letter on the screen.

"Seems legit!"

"It's Lady Kiyoko, of course, it's legit!"

_I'm surrounded by idiots... but I doubt Lady Shimizu would lie about something like this._

"And the most important detail of this visit would be the inclusion of a _Nise Proelium_. The Karasuno Guard is training diligently for the upcoming battle as we speak. Most of the members who brought home a victory from Seijoh will the main team posed to participate."

At that, there was a collective doubtful 'uhhhhhhhh' as everyone turned to face an equally confused Tanaka and Nishinoya, who were definitely NOT training their hearts out. Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kinoshita and Narita also found themselves the subject of dozens of disbelieving stares.

_Okay, of course, Lady Shimizu will still lie about some things._

"With that, I implore you all, citizens of Karasuno. As the guards prepare for this very important battle, please show them your support. We must all come together and demonstrate to the foreign kingdoms that Karasuno is far from being on its last legs." Kiyoko bowed down 90 degrees, hitting her head against the lectern at which she stood with an audible 'thump'. The crowd went wild.

"AHHHHH LADY KIYOKO BELIEVES IN US!"

"SHE'S RIGHT! THIS IS NO TIME FOR FIGHTING AMONGST OURSELVES! WE'RE ALL KARASUNO!"

"GO! GO! KARASUNO! PUSH IT! PUSH IT! KARASUNO!"

_... Whoever appointed Lady Shimizu as press secretary definitely knew what they were doing. I might even call them a genius. She has the guard, maybe even the kingdom, wrapped around her finger._

"Now, on to the less pressing reports-"

Tsukishima figured that was a good place to tune out, making his way through the crowd that was so slavishly devoted to the royal press secretary. Personally, he felt like they were at a serious disadvantage in this upcoming battle. They were nowhere near ready for a mock battle; him once again referring any of his doubters to their Seijoh fiasco. Perhaps if he slipped away now, he could get away from-

"Hey, Tsukishima! Where are ya going?!" hollered a now rejuvenated Tanaka.

"You heard our goddess! We're gonna be training till we bleed!" enthused Nishinoya.

"Maybe not till we bleed, but we definitely need to train way, **way** harder," Narita corrected.

"Yamaguchi, with me! We need to work on your flight manoeuvres!" ordered Kinoshita.

"Personally, I couldn't care less-" Tsukishima was about to snark when he caught sight of Yamaguchi giving him a 'look'. It was a look that Tsukishima could only describe as a blend of disappointment and... hope? At the same time? How was he doing that? There was also a twinge of confidence mixed in there somewhere, or at least, that's what he saw, that's what he felt when he took a good, hard look at the face Yamaguchi was giving him. But if he thought he was gonna be convinced by that... mixed expression, then Yamaguchi has another thing coming-... _sigh_ , by Garasu, his freckled friend was gonna be the death of him.

" _Sigh_ , when do we begin..." he asked, the unenthusiasm clear as day to anyone with a functioning brain. But he forgot, their captain and vice-captain shared a brain cell when it came to matters like this.

"LET'S GO! I'M GONNA PRACTICE MY SWORD SLASHES ON YA, YOU SALTY BRAT!" Tanaka declared, rushing forward and grabbing the blond rookie by the neck of his shirt, pulling him towards the field. Tsukishima only groaned, surrendering to his fate.

* * *

"How do you think the commander-general is **really** like?" inquired Hinata. He and Kageyama were making their way down the dirt path Daichi had referred them to that would apparently get them to Commander-General Azumane's house.

"What do you mean, dumbass?"

"Hey! No need to be so rude! I'm just asking because so far, everyone's saying he's this big, scary guy!"

"Is he?"

"I don't know? Have you heard anything, Yamayama?"

"I mean, no one really talks to me about this stuff... no one talks to me in general so..."

"That's not true! I talk to you!"

"Yea but you're a dumbass."

"HEY!" Hinata moved to punch Kageyama but the taller boy stopped him by grabbing onto his skull, hand buried in his fluffy orange hair. Kageyama wasn't gonna lie, it was like sinking his fingers into a stuffed crow plushie that could be won at the harvest festival, a.k.a. very comfortable. Then again, a plushie wasn't exactly gonna claw at you while letting out a string of 'ow ow ow ow ow ow's, so perhaps Kageyama shouldn't make a habit out of this. Suddenly, the complaints stopped, Hinata pointing to a seemingly run-down concrete shack.

"Wait, is that... the general's house?" The orange-haired boy questioned. Kageyama released the shorter boy and blinked. He was going to scold the 'dumbass' about how there was no way the commander-general of Karasuno was living in a mouldy concrete box, but from their view, atop the little hill they were on, the shack was the only habitable building in miles. Heck, the two guards could see the border wall in the distance and the only thing between that and the shack was an expanse of green.

"It... it seems like it..."

"WHA?! REALLY?!"

"Yea... I can't believe it either." Well, there was only one way to know for sure. The two rookies curiously made their way to the little concrete shelter. As they got closer, they could see just how poor of a condition it was in. The door looked like it was gonna fall off its hinges in like two more months. The roofing tiles were about to come down in a landslide. And the boards of wood definitely weren't blocking the presumably terrible draft that entered the house.

"Wow... almost looks like the one I lived in," remarked Hinata.

"Y'know, I always forget that I first met you in front of a dump," Kageyama commented.

"Hey! It wasn't... exactly a dump. I mean, it was bigger than whatever this is in front of us!" The two walked up closed, both contemplating whether or not to knock, neither of them volunteering to do so. 

Suddenly, shouting could be heard coming from the inside.

"Suga! Please stop coming here! I'm not going back!" _Suga? Is Mr Suga here?_ thought Hinata.

"You saw the broadcast! Nekoma's coming! We're gonna have a mock battle!"

"Yea and you'll do just fine without me dragging the guard down!"

"No we won't and you know it! C'mon!!! We need you!"

"Nope! You're done here! Get out!"

"But-"

"JUST- please..." 

Then silence, and definitely the uncomfortable kind. The two were not expecting the prime minister to be here. Although, Daichi did say how he, Sugawara and General Azumane were really close friends.

The door began to creak and Kageyama instinctively pulled Hinata back, allowing the door to swing open and reveal a puffy-eyed Prime Minister Sugawara. Needless to say, the older man was surprised to see them there.

"What? What now- oh!" exclaimed a brown-haired man behind Suga. Hinata tilted his body to peep behind the grey-haired man and saw a much older looking man with a... beard? Goatee? What did the market aunties call a little hair on your chin again?

"Who- who are these two?" the brown-haired man asked. Sugawara seemed to think for a moment, then his eyes lit up (though they were still red and puffy) and he turned back to the other man.

"These are the two rookies that Daichi saw potential in! Asahi, Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shouyou." The prime minister then turned to the rookies, "Hinata, Kageyama, Azumane Asahi, commander-general of the Karasuno military!"

"O-oh yeah, I saw you two in the Seijoh recording. You two did... okay... better than anything I can do," said Asahi. Suga immediately slapped him on the shoulder, chiding him with an aggressive 'don't say that'. Kageyama and Hinata, meanwhile, quickly regained their composure and bowed.

"Good day to you, General Azumane!" greeted Kageyama.

"A pleasure to meet you, sir!" greeted Hinata.

"Please, I'm no longer the general. No need to be so formal," said Asahi softly. Didn't seem to change anything though, as Hinata's eyes went wide and brightened, his face radiating the energy of a child meeting their idol.

"So, you're the general?! COOL!!! What kind of magic do you have! Captain Tanaka said you used a sledgehammer! Is that true! If so, you must be super strong! GWAHH! I'm so excited to be able to meet you! Can you teach me anything, even if you use a hammer? You're the same class as me so I should be able to learn **something** , right?!" The words seemed to pour out of the tangerine's mouth at a mile a second, the other three growing increasingly startled by the speed at which he was rambling. And how the heck was he not out of breath?! Kageyama was the first to respond, slapping a hand over his colleague's mouth, giving him a hard glare and a scowl.

"Stop it, dumbass! You're gonna get a seizure!"

"Em nah sor dat haw it worh yahayaha," retorted a muffled Hinata. Even more confused, Kageyama retracted his hand from Hinata's mouth.

"What?"

"I said, I'm not sure that's how it works, Yamayama!"

"Oh shut up!"

The two wouldn't realise it at first, but their little argument had done much to alleviate the negative tension in the air. Sugawara felt a cosy feeling bubbling in his chest, laughing loudly at the rookie's antics. Asahi, while perplexed, also felt his insides warm up as he managed a tiny chuckle. Kageyama and Hinata only stopped bickering when the prime minister finally stopped giggling and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, probably should've asked this earlier, but why are you here? Were you looking for me?" he asked.

"No sir! We are actually here to persuade the commander-general to come back to the guard!" Kageyama announced. Hinata wanted to elbow his friend for his bluntness, but the faces of Sugawara and Asahi being caught off guard dissuaded him, figuring it was too late to salvage the situation.

"Sorry what?" Asahi asked, more confused than ever.

"General Azumane, please come back to the guard!"

Hinata figured that, hey, since the cat's not only out of the bag, but has already run a full lap around the country, may as well double down.

"Yes sir! Please come back! I'm sure the guard will only improve! Y'know, since you're so strong and all!" Sugawara could only sigh; a small, sympathetic smile plastered on his face.

"Daichi told you to come here, didn't he?" The two boys nod and Suga continues. "Well, I'm sorry to say, but I've been trying to get him to return ever since he left. The big guy seems to be rooted here..."

"Suga... I've said this already. I'm not going back..."

"Why not?" asked Kageyama.

"I've hurt enough people already. I don't need to hurt anyone else by just suddenly going back..."

"Asahi-"

"I'm sorry. I think this conversation is over..." Asahi moved to return to his shack but Hinata quickly slid in front of him, blocking his way and scaring the poor guy quite hard that his glass heart almost stopped, him letting out a startled scream.

"Wait! Sir! Please listen to us!" Hinata begged, "You're afraid you'll hurt Mr Noya even more than you already have right?"

Asahi's eyes briefly widened before choosing to stare down at the ground, his silence all but confirming it.

"Well, I've talked to him! And he looks like he's just waiting for your return! Like, he really does love you so much that I'm sure if you just go up to him and say sorry, he'll jump into your arms and forgive you! Actually, he probably already has!" argued Hinata. 

"... Yea, he probably has. That's what Suga said too. I know that. It's just... but..."

"That's not it, is it?" Kageyama chimed in. The other three turned to him, all (except Asahi because he doesn't really know the boy) seemingly surprised at the raven-head's statement.

"It's not about you basically rejecting Vice-Captain Noya's crush. You're scared that if you go back, he will just throw himself in front of you without regard for his own life again. And get injured again. And you love him too much to want to put him through that again," he deduced. Hinata's mouth was the shape of a large 'o' as if the same realisation was clicking in his head at the same time. He then shot a grin at Kageyama, 'praising' him with a 'wow, Yamayama can use his brain', prompting another latch on to his skull.

"I mean, I had thought that was the case... but Asahi, you just kept insisting you didn't want to hurt him- oh... OHHH. All this while, you say you didn't want to hurt him... you didn't mean emotionally, you meant physically! Is that right, ya son of a gun?" scolded Sugawara, taking his frustration out on his friend. How dare he make him misunderstand his motivations? How dare he make him come here and give him relationship therapy when in reality, he just needed assurance that Noya wasn't gonna return to death's door anytime soon?

Of course, the prime minister didn't mean any of that. He was willing to make this trip even if he had realised that sooner. After all, anything to see his friend, right? He was just upset at how he had missed the point and he needed an outlet, and Daichi wasn't here so-

"... I mean, yea... that's the big reason... AND DON'T TELL ME HE WOULDN'T! I know he's willing to die for me! And yea, I don't want that! Without me, he won't-"

"I think we can get Mr Noya to promise that he won't be so reckless next time! If that's all it is, then you should be able to come back worry-free, right?" Hinata interjected excitedly. They were getting somewhere now.

"Pft, Noya? Not be reckless? Hahahahaha- sorry, I just find that a bit unreali-" Suga began before remembering Asahi was here with them. "-stic... oh... I mean, I'm sure we can get him to reel it back a bunch!"

"Yeah! He loves you! So if he knows that that's all it takes, I'm sure he'll do it, for you!!" Hinata assured him.

"I- I don't know... Noya has always been... energetic, enthusiastic, careless... heh, it's why I fell in love with him in the first place..." Suga and Hinata took the time to 'awwwww' at the former general's words.

"And every time we came back from a mission, the medics would complain at how many bruises and cuts he'd get. He would just act all tough and say 'tis but a scratch' or something funny like that!" Asahi couldn't help but chuckle at his own account of the vice-captain. But then sadness filled his face again.

"But it wasn't funny when he... he..." the man began to break down in tears.

"He practically had a hole in his chest... he lost so much blood! He-" Suga moved to hold his friend, stroking a hand over his back, consoling him as much as he could. Tears continued to pour, though.

"Yea, but so long as he's still in the guard, he'll still be in that same danger. You can say he'll go harder for you but the fact is, that kind of thing, those kinds of injuries, they're all risks we as guards knowingly take," reasoned Kageyama. Hinata couldn't describe how proud he was of how mature he was being. When did Yamayama sound like a commander, he wondered.

"... Then what should I do? I know he's always going to have to put his life on the line, but don't you think he won't have to do so as often if I'm not there?" countered Asahi.

"It's still gonna be the same risks. When that happens, you both will just have to be brave." Kageyama concluded.

"Hmmm, I think what Yamayama is trying to say is: since the dangers are gonna be there no matter if you're there or not, why not come back and face the dangers together with Mr Noya instead of without him? Isn't that what two people who love each other do?" added Hinata. Kageyama looked at the orange-head incredulously.

"Di-did you just use your brain? You could get a fever!"

"Hey! And here I was thinking about how mature and cool you were being! You watch out for your own brain Bakageyama!" And off the two went again, bickering and throwing hands at each other. Suga only let out a small giggle this time, more focused on Asahi.

"Y'know, they're not wrong. If you're there, perhaps you could even protect Noya better than anyone else. Why leave him to face the perils of being a guard alone when you could do it together? Besides hurting him, you going back could also save him, right?" he reasoned. Asahi turned to face the ground again, mulling the arguments over. They did make some pretty good points. But the image of Nishinoya all bloodied up, his body going pale and cold continued to flash through his mind, trying to convince him that he was right in leaving. But the thought of being able to protect him too...

"I think we've made significant progress this time. I'll give you some time to think. C'mon you two! Let's head back to the capital!" ordered Sugawara. Hinata paused midair, right before he was going to tackle Kageyama and claw at him. Kageyama paused his punches and skull grabs. Once the two were settled, they gave one last goodbye bow to Asahi, leaving behind their pleas to return to the guard, and began making their way up the path. Sugawara followed behind them, but not before leaving behind his own words.

"Oh and Asahi?"

"Hm?"

"I know we've said all of that and I would really like you back on the guard... but at the end of the day... it's your choice whether or not to return... and I have to accept that..." Sugawara proceeded to hit his own chest, puffing up in bold determination.

"And if you really choose to stay here instead, I'll just keep visiting you, no strings attached. Maybe I could even bring Daichi! Heh, that'd be tough but... whatever! Just know that... we're still your friends, okay? And you not being on the guard will never change that." With that, the prime minister waved one last goodbye and picked up his pace to try and catch up to the now racing duo.

Asahi was left standing there. Again, the image of a near-death Noya flashed before his eyes, but again the words of the three just now flashed right after it. He went into his shack, picking up his old combat sledgehammer, brushing off the dust on its handle and head. Gripping it firmly, he went back outside.

Taking in a deep breath, he took a mighty swing. The head of the hammer was surrounded by a black aura, bright orange energy filling the carvings on it. The force from the swing made a nice, sizeable hole in the wall of his shack. Oh in the name of Garasu, he really regretted that. Now the shack was probably gonna crumble down on him in the middle of the night. And his stuff was still in there! He prayed to Garasu that nothing precious broke.

He also prayed that the decision he was about to make was the right one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Asahi's plotline is finally going somewhere! Finally the plot can get going! Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it!


	18. Seeking council

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the chapter title is a pun. Just to avoid the grammarians, the proper term is to 'seek counsel'.

Iwaizumi seemed to be having the worst week in his life so far, even worse than the battles he had lost against the dreaded king of Shiratorizawa. Ever since the minor incident of being infiltrated by a few Karasuno scouts, Oikawa had been much more secretive of what he's been doing, only giving him vague descriptions of 'we'll pull home a victory' without elaborating further. The only way he's been able to keep tabs on his king still was via Takeru. Bless the poor kid's soul.

Not to mention, the more he looked at reports by Matsukawa and Hanamaki, the less it seemed that they were infiltrated by mere scouts. Like, Karasuno's Captain of the Guard was there, along with two lieutenants. To top it off, they broke their imprisoned Vice-Captain of the Guard out of jail; the Seijoh prime minister had forgotten he was even there! Was it actually some sort of rescue mission disguised as reconnaissance? If so, did Karasuno really send clearly inexperienced teenage rookies out too? Were the rookies just there to make it **seem** like a scouting mission?

A wave of unnaturally fierce anger began boiling in Iwaizumi's chest. He couldn't believe Karasuno would stoop so low. Those kids could have died! Then again, their own military had teens in it too, but he would never ever entertain the idea of sending them out to scout. Well, he wouldn't, but Oikawa would.

"Sir? You wanted to see us?" came a small voice. Had the prime minister's office been any larger, he was sure the voice wouldn't have been audible. Iwaizumi looked up and saw Kindaichi and Kunimi stepping in, the guards posted outside opening the doors for them. _Finally! I might get some answers!_

"Yea, I just wanted to ask you two a few questions," he said. Kindaichi stood to attention while Kunimi looked unimpressed as usual. He was probably resenting how hectic it was to immediately be called in by the prime minister after a gruelling week of suppressing a whole eastern village that went on strike.

"First of all, why were you sent far east?" Iwaizumi asked. _Speak of the devil... wait, crap... we can't actually tell him we've been slaughtering people, huh?_ thought Kunimi, now fully aware of his body movements, hoping they wouldn't betray his panic.

_Shoot, his majesty said not to tell! Uh..._ thought Kindaichi, quickly making up a story of how they were there to guard the citizens and catch criminals. He wasn't technically lying... if they went on strike, they betrayed the country, so they're criminals, right?

"I can tell you're withholding some things... but fine, I won't press it."

_Yikes! How could he tell? Was it something I did?! Did I look to the left?! I heard that was a thing you did when you lied!_

"Moving on-"

_Thank goodness!_

"About 2 weeks ago, you two were relegated to guarding the wall for the night, correct?"

"Yes sir!" Kindaichi replied quickly, eager to move away from the previous topic.

"Yea, that's what's stated on your papers... but the other guards on night duty said something different." Kunimi's eyes widened, shocked that the prime minister did such a thorough investigation. Then again, he was also the commander-general. His very duty is to be clear with what his troops are doing. But their papers that night were signed off by the king! There was no reason for Iwaizumi to doubt it!

"Bring them out!" Iwaizumi shouted to nowhere in particular. But right on cue, two royal guards were dragging two other men who were... uh... looking worse for wear. Kindaichi visibly grimaced at the bruises and cuts on their faces, arms and legs. Kunimi narrowed his eyes upon seeing their swollen eyes and lifeless expressions. Still, coming back from a... bloodier mission, the two guards could tell they were alive, but seemingly just barely.

"Took me a while, but they eventually confessed that you told them to sub in for you two that night while you went off somewhere. These two bastards, despite being five whole years older than both of you, decided that a royal seal was enough to let teenage guards do whatever, even though everyone knows anything military-related must also have the approval of the commander-general. And I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't remember approving anything either than wall duty," explained Iwaizumi.

_Took you a while?! Do you mean tortured them senseless?! By Kukunochi!! They're barely breathing!!_ thought a panicked Kindaichi.

_Well, a royal seal is pretty damn influential, o great Lord Iwaizumi._ Kunimi snarked internally.

"So, go ahead. Explain what were you doing," Iwaizumi commanded.

"Uh, we were... heading to the village nearby to slack off! I'm so sorry sir! We'll accept any puni-" Kindaichi's rampant apology was cut off by Iwaizumi pounding his table with his fists, the decorative pieces and stationeries flying into the air for a second.

"I said. Explain. What were. You doing." Iwaizumi said lowly.

"Kindaichi already told you, sir, we were-" Kunimi's attempt was met with another slam on the table and Iwaizumi standing up, the plans of his hands pressed firmly against the tabletop for support.

_Sheesh, since when was Mr Iwaizumi so easy to anger?_ thought Kunimi, now slightly fearing for his life. Kindaichi, meanwhile, was sweating bullets.

_Shit shit shit!! He knows!! He has to!! Otherwise, he wouldn't be so-_

A dark aura began to emanate off of the prime minister, growing larger and more intense until it filled the room with an overwhelming sense of dread and fear. The floor swept beneath Kindaichi's feet. Kunimi was now standing at full attention, sweat drops hitting the floor. Even the guards who were merely there to bring the substitutes out got on their knees, either out of reverence for their commander-general or to stabilise themselves, because now the room was actually quaking, tiny stone debris seeping through the gaps in the shaking ceiling.

And Iwaizumi? He was like another entity at this point. His whole face had darkened. The muscles in his forearms had tensed, veins popping out. And Kunimi wasn't sure, but for a moment, the prime minister's eyes seemed to go black for a split second. Then again, everything was going a bit blurry for him, so it was probably his fear that was creating hallucinations.

" **Don't lie to me! I know for a fact you two were outside the walls that night. Where. Were. You?!** "

"KARASUNO!! We were sent by his majesty to Karasuno!!" confessed Kindaichi. It was taking everything in him to not pee his pants right now.

" **WHY?! WHY DID HE SEND YOU?!** "

"I don't know-" Kindaichi began. A thorn swiftly flew by, grazing his cheek, prompting him to let out a frightened 'eep' and close his eyes. Iwaizumi had drawn his sword and seemed ready to unleash another thrust.

"We really don't know! His majesty just told us to 'give them a taste of what's to come' and burn a few houses down! His words, not ours!" Kunimi explained, rushing to Kindaichi's side. His face was defensive and angry, already a lot more emotion than he what he was used to.

" **AND YOU LISTENED TO HIM WITHOUT COMING TO ME?! The next time Shittykawa tells you to do something dangerous, you can tell him to shove his narcissistic tongue up his ass and crawl his way over here so I can beat the crap out of him!! IS THAT CLEAR?!** " 

"YES SIR!!"

" **Now get out!** "

"YES SI-" And with that, a whole storm of thorns descended upon them. Kindaichi instinctively raised his vine wall, shielding him and Kunimi. The other guards fearfully took cover behind some pillars.

" **I SAID GET OUT!!!** " They didn't need to be told a third time. The guards rushed out the backway from where they came while the rookies called here in the first place darted out the front doors. And it really says a lot when you can get someone like Kunimi to run.

Iwaizumi threw his sword to the ground, let out one last furious yell, and swept the items on his table off onto the floor. He sat (read: slammed) back into his chair and seethed, his breaths heavy. Perhaps his breaths were too heavy, though, because his own head began spinning. The scenes of his outburst began playing back in his mind like a film as if he had observed the scene as a third party. But that didn't make any sense, why was he remembering the whole thing like he wasn't a part of it? 

His head still spinning, he began processing what was happening in front of him. He watched himself(?) absolutely lose his cool and even attack the two rookies. That couldn't be right! Why would he attack them? He would never raise his sword against a youngster unless they posed a direct threat to him. And why did he dismiss them like that? Wasn't he supposed to pry more information out of them?

Iwaizumi clutched his forehead and groaned. He had been under a lot of stress lately. But still, no matter how stressed he had been in the past, he always made sure to keep his anger in check, especially for issues like this. So why was he so easily pissed just now? Leaning back into his chair, he covered his eyes, trying to examine his memories again. But the more he tried, the more blurry they became, and then the more concerned he himself became.

"What did I just do?"

* * *

"SHOUYOOOOUUUU!!" Nishinoya's loud rambunctious call rang through the halls. The way the vice-captain was running towards the returning duo with his arms in the air was reminiscent of an energetic child greeting friends whom they had not seen in a long time. Granted, Kageyama and Hinata were only gone for an hour at best, maybe an extra half hour? Whatever the case, they weren't actually gone all that long, and yet Hinata was putting his arms in the air too, greeting Nishinoya with the same level of enthusiasm.

"So, what did Daichi want from you? Did he give you some super-secret training? Did he whip your butts? C'mon! I want details!!" Noya pried.

"Okay, so you see, his majesty wanted Bakageyama-"

"Oi!"

"-and I to work together more! Because apparently, Bakageyama is so good at making up for my shortcomings!" 

"Heh, that's not true. I can't do anything about your height."

"BAKAGEYAMA YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" yelled Hinata.

"Yeah! Take that back!" Nishinoya yelled with him.

"Shut it you two!"

"Hey! I'm your vice-captain!"

"His majesty also wanted us to help with getting General Azumane back on the force, so we went to visit him too," Kageyama added. Nishinoya shifted his feet, his energy drastically decreasing the moment the archer finished his sentence.

"Yamayama!" Hinata punched the socially inept raven-head in the shoulder.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you two were a thing," Kageyama responded plainly, which, without the context of Kageyama's awkwardness, sounded really rude. Like, Kageyama, you don't just brush off a comment like that! Nishinoya clenched his fists, face scrunching up in frustration, looking ready to unleash hell upon the raven-head.

"Yamayama! You jerk!" As said, Hinata was determined to make it known to the archer that he had a long way to go in making people like him. Not that he needed to, Kageyama was well aware, he just had trouble differentiating between what was appropriate for the situation and what wasn't. Not to mention, Hinata could be rude in his own ways too, so was he really the best man for this job?

"Nah, it's fine. At this point... I'm just too tired to snap back. That darn Tsukishima just took a jab at me earlier and honestly? ... Just, forget it. I... I need some time alone." Nishinoya's despondent reply triggered bright red flashes of concern in the orange-haired rookie, considering the vice-captain was brimming with energy just a moment ago. Is this what true exhaustion looked like? Could Hinata even comprehend emotional exhaustion? He hadn't really experienced it before, though, he was always pretty happy-go-lucky so maybe he just didn't notice anything off about himself.

Meanwhile, Nishinoya was pushing past the duo, seemingly heading for the exit. _Oh, where is Captain Tanaka?! He could help!_

"Sir! Vice-Captain Nishinoya! Sir! Wait!" Hearing the desperate 'Vice-Captain Nishinoya' almost made the person in question want to turn back and flash him a bright smile, but he was really out of energy at this point so any smile would probably turn out tiny and fragile and worry his subordinate more, so he decided against it. Plus, any smile would be tiny in comparison with Shouyou's.

Hinata wasn't to be deterred though as he rushed ahead of the vice-captain to block his exit, not knowing that someone else already was. The rookie had collided into someone's torso, resulting in a brief moment of his surroundings spinning.

"Shouyou! You alright?! Watch where you're going next time!" Nishinoya's worried tone swirled with his vision, but soon enough, he was back in the land of the orientated.

"Oi, dumbass! Watch it next time!" Kageyama scolded from a distance. Hinata would've responded with a tongue had he not been in shock from seeing who he had bumped into.

"It's you! The cranky clerk guy!" He exclaimed. Sure enough, standing before them, was the man with slicked-back blond hair and a cigarette in his mouth. To his credit, he quickly extinguished it. Not to his credit, he did it under his shoes. Yuck!

"Yeah, it's me. You're not dreaming. The cranky clerk of a general store is here in the guard HQ," he deadpanned. By now, Nishinoya had his arm wrapped around the orange rookie's shoulders once again, glaring at the clerk due to memories of their previous encounter. Kageyama had walked up closer to see what was going on, and so did a whole bunch of guards. Soon enough, a crowd had formed at the door.

"Who is this guy?"

"A store clerk? What's he doing here?"

"What the heck is happening?!"

"Step aside! Step aside! Captain coming through!" Tanaka announced as he pushed his way towards the 'mysterious' clerk, giving the older man his most intimidating face possible. "Whatcha want, punk?"

The clerk merely rolled his eyes at the question, "Did Specs not tell you guys? I swear to Garasu- where is that man!?" 

As if on cue, Mr Takeda appeared behind him, sweating and panting as if he had just run a marathon across the entire country.

"Hi * _pant_ * sorry! I * _pant_ * made it here * _pant_ * as soon as I * _pant_ * could!" He explained, wiping his now foggy glasses and readjusting them. "By Garasu, I didn't expect you to come this early!"

The blond clerk smirked, "Hey, you were the one who wanted me here!"

This caused the gathered crowd to gasp and whisper amongst themselves (you know, that's all they seem to do besides training). Tanaka, now with Kinoshita and Narita behind him, looked towards Takeda with the face of a confused bulldog.

"Mr Takeda? What is this old coot saying? You invited him here?!"

"Hey! Watch who you're calling old coot! I'll just barely make 30 in a week or so!"

"Yes. It was I who invited this 'old coot' to the HQ."

"Oi! Specs! Don't agree with him!"

Takeda readjusted his spectacles one more time before breaking the news, a giant smile on his face:

"Esteemed guards of Karasuno, I am proud to present to you: Ukai Keishin! The kingdom's new chief advisor!"

And there was fanfare! Confetti! Much rejoice at this news! Fireworks were launched! Applause filled the air!

-Not. If anything, the awkward cawing of the crows outside was now clearly audible. The white noise that was the crackling of the flames on torches was just brought to light. And one, singular, cough. Just one.

"Who?" asked Kinoshita.

"... Chief... Advisor...?" Tanaka's head tilted to the side, his puzzled face clear as day.

"Oh! Do you mean the ROYAL chief advisor? Like, the closest aide to the king, the wisest public person in the kingdom, the chief strategist in war, **that** chief advisor?" Narita suggested, demonstrating his encyclopedic-tendencies.

"Yes! Exactly!" cheered Takeda.

"Wait, we didn't have a chief advisor before?" Narita then asked. Cue Takeda falling over in frustration.

"Yeah. According to Specs here, he's been the one balancing all the extra duties of the absent council members, including the chief advisor. Although I have to say, he's no battle tactician, so the fact that the kingdom hasn't been invaded is a miracle. As for how the kingdom still functions without a full council, it's all thanks to Specs! Everyone say thank you Specs!" Ukai declared. The room erupted into thunderous (albeit confused) applause and cheers, various phrases of 'thank you Mr Takeda' and actual 'thank you Specs' filling the air. Takeda was dumbfounded with the attention, turning away to hide his beet-red face.

"Well, that's all in the past now. 'Cause I'm your new chief advisor! And I'm here to train ya!" There was a brief pause, the gravity of this piece of news taking its time to settle in. Don't worry, they made the appropriate noises right after.

"WHAT?!"

"IS THAT WHAT A CHIEF ADVISOR DOES?!"

"WAIT! How about Captain Tanaka!? What does he do?!"

"Well, clearly, your Captain Kanaka will train under me too," Ukai replied to that one question specifically.

"Hey! It's Tanaka!"

"Whatever you say, Captain Baldie."

"HEY!!! I'M NOT BALD!!!" And Tanaka would've attempted to beat him up too if it weren't for those meddling lieutenants. How dare they be so responsible?!

"Woah! So what can you do Mr Ukai?! Are you some legendary warrior who's gonna show us the secret technique of the crow?!" Hinata asked excitedly. Ukai snorted. Was this kid serious? What the heck was a 'secret technique of the crow'? He was right about to disappoint the glowing child when Kageyama's eyes lit up.

"Wait. Your name is Ukai?" Asked the young rookie. 

"Uh... yeah- wait... WAIT-"

"OH MY GOSH, IT'S LORD UKAI!!!" Kageyama cried, stars in his eyes. Hinata made a mental note about how out-of-character this was before ultimately filing it under 'Yamayama is a fanboy' and 'Bakageyama is weird'. Meanwhile, everyone was suddenly really interested in this blond clerk once Kageyama pointed out his last name.

"OMG, HE'S RIGHT! IT'S LORD UKAI!"

_Oh crap..._ thought Ukai.

"You mean **the** legendary Lord Ukai?! Awesome!!"

_Ooooooohhhhhhhh... crap._

"Heck yeah, I wanna be trained by him!!"

_Crap crap crap crap crap! Crappity crap!_

"Wait, isn't he supposed to be like really old?!"

"YES! Yes, he is! Because the Lord Ukai you're familiar with is my grandfather!!" Ukai blurted. And you know, the Karasuno guards gasp so much that their lungs probably have muscles at this point.

"It's true, as I've said before, this is Ukai Keishin. He is, in fact, the esteemed grandson of Lord Ukai Ikkei, the fearless raven!" Takeda added.

"Specs, you gotta stop adding 'esteemed' every time you say a name. And while you're at it, stop announcing things like the world is gonna collapse any second."

"But you bare the Ukai name! You deserve some respect!"

"Specs, I run a general store. A. GENERAL. STORE."

"My point still stands-"

"Uh, sirs?" Kinoshita piped up. By now, the guards were getting restless and have pretty much accepted that this was not **the** Ukai, but he was still **a** Ukai, so he must have some skill. The only one truly disappointed was Kageyama, but that was because he was a total Ukai fanboy (Hinata's words).

Not to say Hinata didn't get what was the big deal. He's walked past the portrait plenty of times, he's heard the stories, he knew who Ukai Ikkei was and why this was such a big matter to the guards. It's just that he only saw this Ukai as a training opportunity and nothing more. He wasn't going to put the Ukai name on a pedestal like the rest of them.

_"I swear I'll become the best! So no one will doubt assigning me to missions again!"_

_Remember who you're doing this for, Shouyou... this is gonna be a part of your training._

Anyway, back to Kinoshita interrupting the two older men.

"Um, sirs, if I may be so rude as to interrupt, but I think we get the point now. You're here to train us, right?" The lieutenant reminded them. Takeda straightened his back, eyes lighting up and air rushing out of his nose. Ukai was much calmer, merely smirking.

"Why yes, of course. Training begins now! After all, how do you expect to beat Nekoma in your sorry states?" shouted Ukai, rallying the troops into another rumble of cheers and pumped-up fists.

"HECK YEAH! C'mon ya scrubs! Time for a hundred times more **pain**!!!" hollered Tanaka, suddenly completely on board with training under a chief advisor now that he knew it was a Ukai at the helm. 

"How noisy..." remarked Tsukishima. He had been quiet the whole time, but now that he's broken that, Tanaka's head snapped towards him.

"Oh... oh no you don't!" were Tsukishima's last words before fleeing for his life (read: muscles) from the pursuing captain, who hounded him like a ferocious bulldog.

"C'mon Tsukki, we barely did any training just now!" argued Tanaka, reaching for Tsukishima, who ducked behind a pillar.

"You made me do 100 push-ups, forcing me to start over if I didn't do one properly!" replied Tsukishima, now dodging towards another pillar further out into the sparring grounds.

"Exactly!! That's nothing compared to what we're about to do!!" responded Tanaka, lunging for the blond as he ran out into the open. Finally, he tackled him to the ground, restraining a very annoyed Tsukishima who was spouting every curse known to man. Hinata caught Yamaguchi snickering in the corner.

"Now now! I know you're all getting restless. But I'd just like to add one more surprise to the mix," Ukai announced. Heads turned, luckily none fell. Well, Tsukishima was wishing really hard for Tanaka's head to fall but that was just a wild fantasy.

"Specs, remember when I said I'm bringing a few friends over?" Takeda nodded hard as he usually did as if nodding any lighter wouldn't get his message across.

"Well... drumroll, please!" Surprisingly, a bunch of guards actually did drumroll, whether it be drumming their thighs or a nearby hard surface. Takeda was, of course, the first one to begin the chain. Ukai then raised his fist, signalling for them to stop.

"TADA!!!!!!" He hollered, presenting the doors. However, instead of swinging open and revealing something or someone as expected of a presentation like this, they remained shut, and the room once again fell into an awkward silence.

"Um, ahem, I said: 'TADA'!!!!!!!" A few more seconds of silence later, Ukai was now fuming and storming towards the doors.

"I swear to Garasu, guys! GUYS?! I thought we rehearsed this!! I shout TADA and then you guys are supposed to-" Then 'BAM!!'.

"TADA!!!!!!!" yelled a group of four men, each seeming to be of similar age with Ukai. They had entered dramatically all of a sudden, swinging the doors open, letting Ukai's face have an 'intimate' moment with the wood. They were dressed in old and dull Karasuno Guard armour and had distinctive hairstyles, as well as distinctive poses. Meanwhile, Takeda was freaking out at Ukai's newly acquired nosebleed.

"WHAT THE HELL GUYS?!" Ukai complained, massaging his nose. One of the men, the one with silky black hair parted evenly into two sides, smiled sheepishly and went to help the clerk, now chief advisor, up to his feet. His hairstyle triggered some unpleasant memories of Kunimi in Hinata's mind, but the orange-head quickly brushed it off by focusing on the man's brown-rimmed glasses and grey eyes.

"Sorry Keishin, we were kinda too caught up in our discussion on the best poses to do upon entry," he apologised. 

"Should've worked on your timing," chided Ukai. A slightly muscular man with short, messy blonde hair and dark brown sideburns simply chuckled at the clerk's annoyance.

"Oh come on now Keishin, you were the one who came to us at the last minute! Our so-called 'rehearsal' was just a few minutes of going through the actions," he revealed, playfully mocking the new chief advisor.

"But thanks to you, we got to come back to HQ," said another man, this one of medium build and curly light brown hair sitting on top of his long face. He seemed to be the second tallest among the four, the first being the blonde that just spoke.

"Granted it's as mentors to some no doubt rowdy troops, but we're grateful nonetheless," said a large man with short black hair. He had a broad face and thick eyebrows above large dark-coloured eyes.

"Yeah, you better be grateful! You also better do your jobs! Your NEW ones!" Ukai commented. Takeda merely smiled and waved.

"Uh... who are these guys?" asked a confounded Tanaka. Was Ukai not the only one training them? Now that he thought about it more, it was only logical. The Karasuno Guard may be less than ideal but it still had over a thousand members in total (including those stationed outside of HQ and those on unofficial breaks).

The four new men smiled wide, redid their poses and loudly announced, "WE'RE THE KARASUNO CITY COUNCIL! VETERANS OF THE GUARD!! READY TO SERVE!"

... Karasuno City Council? Takeda cleared his throat at that.

" **Former** city council. Now you are on the full **royal** council," the secretary-general corrected. The blonde man (not Ukai) turned to him in slight confusion.

"Woah! I wasn't aware we switched jobs! Keishin just told us we're merging with the royals, not full-on joining them!"

"Really? Lord Ukai told me he had friends who could fill in the open positions full time," countered Takeda. They all looked to Ukai with accusing gazes (except Takeda. He's a saint), and the chief advisor began sweating bullets.

"Uh... LOOK AT THE TIME! C'MON GUYS! LET'S GET TO TRAINING!!" Ukai then bolted off, dragging the closest, most vulnerable guard towards the training fields... which happened to be a livid Tsukishima, still recovering from his tussle with Tanaka. Poor dude.

" _Sigh_... we'll get to official business later. Keishin is right, let's start whipping you all into shape!" cheered the man with the 'Kunimi' hairstyle. Hundreds of cheers, claps, and thunderous footsteps later, the main hall was cleared out, leaving only Hinata, Kageyama, Yamaguchi and a still rather despondent Nishinoya. Hinata, being the caring friend that he was, went up to him and asked him what was wrong.

"I... don't get me wrong, it's great that some real vets are coming in to help us... but it doesn't feel right for me to continue on full-speed like this without Asahi..."

"... Nishinoya, sir-"

"I said I'd train you, Shouyou, and I still will... but I think after the whole Nekoma deal is done, I'm quitting for good," the vice-captain announced softly. Yamaguchi straight up gasped.

"Wait, but sir, you can't just quit like that! All the other guards love your energy!! Any one of them who talked to you this morning would always walk away smiling!" he presented. If he was allowed to continue, he may have accidentally divulged that he himself was starting to appreciate the vice-captain's presence. Luckily for him, his own shyness and Kageyama's continuation stopped that.

"Vice-captain, sir, you are one of the few guards we have currently capable to face off whoever Nekoma will send our way." The raven-head then bowed a full 90 degrees, "nothing good would come of you quitting, and it'd be an honour to fight alongside you, sir!"

Nishinoya only sighed, smiling softly at Kageyama and Yamaguchi's attempts to persuade him. Nothing could convince him to stay at this point, of course, but it was comforting to see rookies trying this hard.

"Y'know, with you two and Shouyou, I'm sure the guard is in good hands. You'll be fine without me!"

"Nishinoya, sir-"

"Either Hisashi or Kazuhito will take over once I quit. You've seen how good they are. You'll be fine!" 

"Vice-captain, sir-"

"Look, thank you for trying, but nothing is gonna change my mind-"

"GENERAL ASAHI, SIR!!" shouted Hinata. Sometime between Nishinoya reaffirming his promise to him and Yamaguchi and Kageyama's attempts to get him to change his mind, the orange-head had climbed his way up a wall outside, past the sparring grounds but before the full grass field. Did he jump? Was he a monkey? No one could know for sure. What the individuals present did know, however, was that he just shouted Asahi's name, and made their way to him immediately.

"Ah! Shhhhhhh!!! Please be quiet! I don't want the others to know I'm here!!" came a deep, timid voice from behind the wall. Yamaguchi didn't recognise it. Kageyama did, and his ears visibly perked up. Despite the lack of a smile, the stars in his eyes showed his excitement clear as day. And Nishinoya?

How long had it been since he had heard that voice? A few months? Less than that? However long it was, it was too long for him. Gosh, his insides were a downright mess. His feelings were indescribable. Was he feeling anger? Sadness? Longing? Actually, should he feel anger? Sadness? Longing? Would it be right? Should he see him? Climb the wall and take a quick gander? Should he just leave him be and make it clear that he was still upset? Was he still upset? No, of course not, he'd forgiven him long ago. Even when he was hauled off to Seijoh, a tiny part of him would think of him. Most of him knew it was only logical to stay away after how they left things off the last time they saw each other. That one, tiny part, though, the one acting on emotions, missed him.

Wait, but if Asahi was here, that meant they definitely were going to interact again. What should he say?! 'Hi'? 'So, how you've been'? 'How dare you come back'? 'Get away from me'? 'I forgive you'? Actually, should he just stay silent? The silent treatment would definitely prevent awkward conversations. Maybe that's what he should do! He should-

"Hey... Noya..."

And just like that, with two words, Noya's heart threatened to leap out of his chest and his brain went blank. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I feel like I'm exaggerating the AsaNoya romance a bit too much. Do you think so too? Also, I now have monthly assessments to study for, so posting will most likely become turbulent. I apologise beforehand.


	19. Love and thunder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the title is straight-up copied off of the upcoming fourth Thor movie. It was too good to pass up. This isn't illegal, by the way, right?

Asahi was seriously considering turning back. It wouldn't have been too late, he hadn't even stepped past the gates yet. Perhaps he wasn't there to consider rejoining the guard at all! Yeah! The giant war hammer in his hands meant nothing! He was just there to... admire the walls of HQ! And the courtyard at the front? Absolutely divine! In fact, now that he was done admiring, perhaps he should begin heading back to his-... now messed-up shack... but that was nothing! He'll just fix it bit by bit every hour or so and-

"Asahi?" came a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Oh my... thank Garasu you actually came!" came another voice he had just heard a while ago.

"Ah... hey... uh... I... this isn't what it looks like!" He knew it wasn't gonna work on them but he still had to try-

"Ah-ha, whatever you say, old pal," mocked Daichi.

"No seriously! I'm just here to visit! I'm not-"

"Planning to rejoin the guard? Tell that to your sledgehammer," Suga quipped. Asahi's face only grew a deeper shade of red. 

_Uh... c'mon Asahi... you gotta do something! Trust your instincts!_

Asahi tossed his giant hammer aside, it landing on the ground with a solid ' _thud_ '.

_Instincts, bad._

The ridiculous act blasted Daichi and Suga back to the past. In their heads, they were reminiscing of how Asahi would always panic in the most mundane of awkward situations, like how he used to shove sparring partners onto the ground just to get them away from him (they were armed, mind you), or how he used to avoid the comrades he accidentally injured for a whole month (the injured guards would actually get more annoyed at his constant apologies and avoiding instead of the injury). In the present, the king and the prime minister were falling about the place, laughing so hard they were on the verge of suffocating.

"Oh! Oh my! You haven't changed a single bit, Asahi!" Sugawara managed to say in between huffs.

"You- you wanna pick that up, chum?" Daichi teased as he rapidly teared up. Asahi's face had turned into a tomato and the former commander-general just took the hammer and fled.

"Wait! Asahi! Where are you going?!" Daichi asked, his voice beginning to show some concern.

"I- uh... you guys scare me! I'm going home!"

"Asahi! Wait! We didn't mean to! I mean- you're kinda easy to frighten... wait no! Sorry! Come back!" pleaded Sugawara. But nothing was going to convince Asahi to turn back. Nope! He was just gonna keep walking and walking and- _OW- GAH!!!_

The former guard had been too distracted by his own thoughts to realise he had rushed into a wall. Oh no! He did a quick wipe of his face. Nope, his nose wasn't bleeding. If only there was a mirror or window or something so he could make sure...

"GENERAL ASAHI, SIR!!" came a shout. It was... a little boy's voice? It was high-pitched after all and... it sounded kind of familiar. Asahi looked towards where he thought the voice came from and lo and behold, a familiar little orange-haired boy had his head sticking over the wall he had just run into.

Asahi wanted to say so many different things on reflex, like 'oh hey, it's you' or 'it's not what it looks like!', but speaking of 'it's not what it looks like', Daichi and Suga were probably just around the corner looking for him, and with the wall in front of him, he was definitely gonna get cornered. So, in the end, the words that came out of his mouth were:

"Ah! Shhhhhhh!!! Please be quiet! I don't want the others to know I'm here!!" 

Yeah, in hindsight, he probably should've watched his volume, because that did not come out near soft enough to evade detection.

"Asahi! There you are!" exclaimed Suga.

"So you didn't run off after all. I'm glad," came Daichi. _Oh no, now I really can't escape!_

"Your majesty!! Mr Suga!!" yelled Hinata excitedly, waving wildly at the two arrivals. The two waved back before turning back to Asahi, giving him hopeful looks. 

"Hehe... yeah... I didn't run off... haha, gotcha... hehe." Perhaps in some ways, awkwardness could be put in the same boat as tension. Both could permeate the atmosphere in just seconds and neither could be easily resolved.

It was this very awkwardness and the desire to escape it that turned Asahi's memories of the next few moments into a blur. He felt himself being dragged along by Daichi and Suga, them saying various things that he didn't always catch. He could hear some things, though.

"They're gonna be so thrilled!"

"You're gonna be fine!"

"Noya's gonna be so happy!"

_Noya..._

_Noya..._

_NOYA?!_

Asahi's head went from blurry to dizzy, barely changing his vision as his surroundings swayed in the wind (Was there even wind? Weren't they inside the HQ building?). Just hearing the name 'Noya' released the flood gates he had just managed to close again. His bursts of energy that so often overwhelmed him, his toothy grin that never failed to make his heart skip a beat, his downright infectious laugh...

What would he say to him? Was he just gonna apologise for springing his resignation out of nowhere? Was he gonna say sorry for essentially rejecting him even though he had feelings for him too? His breathing became rapid and his heartbeat accelerated. The whole situation was already so awkward, the least he could do was not come off too strong, right? Just a simple hello, or a wave, or a passing nod, maybe he wouldn't even look at him!

How could Asahi not look at him? Noya was tiny compared to him yet he was always surging with movement, always on the go, on to the next mission. And his hairstyle? Infinitely recognisable. Asahi could guarantee that no one else in the guard, heck, maybe even the kingdom, had Nishinoya's wild hairstyle, especially when paired with his (cute) little blonde tuft at the front. It was so ingrained into his brain that he could practically see it in front of him...

Oh wait, it was in front of him...

Nishinoya was in front of him...

_NOYA IS IN FRONT OF ME!!! AHHHHH WHAT DO I DO?!?!?!_

Maybe he was just dreaming. Maybe he wasn't in the HQ at all! Perhaps if he just closed his eyes and opened them again...

Nope! Wide awake!

_Okay... calm down Asahi. At this point, he's just a friend, a colleague, a comrade. Just greet him like you would any other guard..._

"Hey... Noya..." In his head, if he could give himself an award for being the most awkward person in existence, he would do it with no hesitation. Garasu, Noya was probably mocking him for being so awkward. What was he thinking? Why did he even come here? He regretted it as soon as he arrived-... did he? If he really did, then why did he make this trip in the first place? Could it be...

The crackling sound of lightning stole Asahi's attention away from self-deprecation session #520. Was it raining? No way! Not only was it sunny on his way here, but lighting also doesn't crackle this long in storms They strike, thunder follows and that's that. The next logical thought was fire, but shouldn't he have smelled smoke by now? The last thing that came to mind was... oh no.

Asahi flew into a panic as he watched lightning envelope Nishinoya. Whatever strands of hair that hadn't yet obeyed the hard gel that he no doubt always applied stood to attention. Crackling sparks could be seen flying out of the spaces that weren't covered by his light armour. His skin began to light up, electric-like mana visibly flowing inside of him up to his face. The pupils in his eyes had disappeared as his eyeballs glowed brighter than the street lamps at night, mana pouring out of them. The only part of Nishinoya that hadn't lit up were his cheeks, which instead glowed a cherry red. Or was it really glowing?

"N-Nishinoya... sir?" Hinata squeaked, nervously stepping back. Yamaguchi and Kageyama did the same while Daichi and Sugawara were looking for ways to defuse the situation.

"Noya... we're gonna need you to calm down..." Suga said carefully, approaching the vice-captain slowly. His hands were reaching for a potion vial in his bag.

"Noya... remember the last time your Rolling Thunder went out of control?" Daichi added. Hinata shivered. With the amount of power radiating from Nishinoya right now, he could only imagine what Daichi meant by 'the last time'. _Wait, what's a 'Rolling Thunder'?_ Both of his questions were about to be answered.

"Uh... Noya-" Asahi didn't even get the chance to finish his question, because the moment those words left his mouth, Nishinoya screamed and unleashed all his irradiating mana with a loud 'BANG'.

Acting quick, Suga threw the potion vial at the three rookies who were huddled together. Whatever it did, Asahi couldn't see because, at the same time, Daichi had unsheathed his sword and with one broad stroke, unleashed a curtain of his black wispy magic in front of himself, Suga and Asahi as if to defend them.

The former commander-general closed his eyes to shield them from the sheer light intensity of the blast. Luckily, the black wisp curtain from Daichi's sword did a decently good job at it already. Still, that was just the light.

Asahi felt himself going airborne due to the force of the blast, landing hard on his rear onto the solid floor. It was a soft landing compared to Daichi, whose back hit the wall and Suga, who crashed onto a bench which toppled over with him. Their loud yells of pain only made Asahi close his eyes tighter, cringing and wishing that they were out in the field. At least there, they'd all land on the soft grass.

He finally gathered the courage to open his eyes once the wind caused by the explosion had died down. The first things he saw were Daichi and Suga on the ground, each groaning in pain. Oddly enough, there was a small crack in the wall where Daichi had made an impact with. Did the king have a spine made of steel? Or was the building getting old?

Asahi turned and saw the three rookies covered in what a pink foam-like substance. It had visibly hardened, essentially forming solid cocoons around them. Some of the substance had been blown onto the wall behind them. Asahi really felt for the poor soul who would have to deal with that mess.

_Suga's potions have gotten more complicated..._ thought Asahi as he waved away the settling dust cloud. Nevermind that he had just stepped back into the HQ after all this time and had yet to process the whole thing, but now he had to confront Nishinoya? Coming back was seriously a bad idea.

Don't get him wrong, he knew he would have to see Nishinoya again whether or not he rejoined the guard, but he was certainly hoping it'd come later rather than sooner, and he also wasn't expecting the vice-captain to lose control of his powers like that after just a few words. Asahi wondered: what could be going through Nishinoya's mind right now?

"Suga! All of you! Are you alright?" Daichi asked, wincing slightly as he massaged the back of his head.

"I'm alright. Asahi?" Suga asked.

"Um... overwhelmed, to say the least. It's just... it's been so long..."

"Hasn't it only been a few months?" Yamaguchi whispered to Hinata next to him, who moved to answer but stumbled, realising he wasn't clear on the matter himself. Suga had probably said how long it's been before, and Daichi too, maybe, but if he couldn't bother to pay attention to the prime minister going over crucial enemy profiles, a span of time concerning a person he barely knew certainly wasn't gonna stick.

While Hinata passed the question along to Kageyama, who merely scolded him for being a dumbass, subjecting poor Yamaguchi to their banter, Suga had begun passing some concoctions around. Asahi could tell they were basic healing potions the moment he felt his stamina recovering, and also by their familiar strawberry flavour that he hadn't tasted since the last battle he was in... **that** battle.

"Uh... so, why are you two here anyway? I thought you'd be busy doing, uh... government stuff?" asked the former commander-general.

"Well, when Mr Takeda bursts in saying he's gotten us a new chief advisor and that he was gonna help train the troops, we couldn't exactly brush it off," replied Suga.

* * *

"Lord Ukai, why didn't you tell them they were going to be on the royal council full time?" queried Takeda. The secretary-general wouldn't stop pestering the newly instated chief advisor. Ukai sighed, putting his piercings away into a tiny box before stuffing it into his pocket.

"Specs, we were city council before this. All we really did were domestic disputes and community stuff. Y'know, stolen goods, debt disputes, public facility maintenance, and the occasional festival. Matters like inter-kingdom diplomacy, huge army logistics and rebellions are murky waters for us." Ukai paused, looking downcast at his four friends happily responding to questions posed by younger recruits and curious veterans, all the likes (as well as brag about their supposedly awesome skills but that was beside the point), "What was I supposed to tell them? 'Hey! Guess what? We got higher paying jobs! But now, instead of causing little communal dissatisfaction, our wrong decisions can now doom the country!'? You don't just uproot honest working men like that, Specs."

Takeda stopped for a moment, deliberating Ukai's words. Had he been too aggressive in trying to bring the kingdom back up on its feet? They had just scouted Seijoh, and before they even had the time to go over Nishinoya's report, they were now stuck with a deadline to prepare the streets for Nekoma envoys and a mock battle! And to top it all off, he was now throwing five men who have yet to grasp the full scale of their new jobs into the water and hoping they swam. 

All this while he kept pushing for progress that he didn't stop to consider the people he was pushing around. He had heard from Suga that Hinata was nearly killed by Seijoh's prime minister, Ukai now had less time to run his shop. Was Daichi feeling this strain as well? If so, why didn't he say anything? He was the king! Takeda would listen to him!

"Hey! Specs!"

"Huh?!"

"You zoned out again. You feeling good?" Ukai asked, a hint of concern in his voice. Takeda blinked and fumbled with his glasses.

"I... honestly? I am..." Takeda's stuttering ensured he wouldn't be able to finish his sentence when a constant scream could be heard in the distance, and it was growing louder. Takeda and Ukai turned to see a bright ball(?) charging towards them, a trail of devastation behind it as what seemed to be overflowing mana poured out into the surroundings, overturning dirt and killing the grass on it.

"I- is that...?" Takeda thought out loud, knowing full well that there was only one guard who could roll into a ball of lightning. It was either him or an actual ball of lightning, the latter of which would take the cake on the list of scariest things Takeda had seen.

"Uh... EVERYONE MOVE OUTTA THE WAY!!" Ukai hollered. On top of the screaming coming from the out of control Nishinoya, his warning caused a wide empty path to form, which would ensure the vice-captain rolled straight towards a tree.

Oh sorry, did I say tree? I meant Tsukishima.

The poor rookie couldn't seem to catch a break today. There was frantic screaming for the blonde to move but he was either finally rendered deaf by Tanaka and Hinata's screaming or just didn't think to care. In truth, it was a weird combo of the two. He could recognise Nishinoya's scream, but he just thought it was the vice-captain being feral again. Not to mention, the frantic screaming was jumbling up the message, so that by the time he turned around to see what was going on, Nishinoya was due to collide with him in T-minus 3 seconds.

In those 3 seconds, Tsukishima just barely managed to process the bright, glowing threat incoming and raise his wing shields. Then, Nishinoya made impact.

As to be expected, Tsukishima was sent flying. What was not to be expected, was that 1) Tsukishima didn't fly as far as the others expected him to, stopping a good few metres before the tree trunk he was bound to hit and 2) Nishinoya was stopped dead in his tracks, the resulting shockwave of mana throwing a few bystanders off their feet. Everyone was stunned. Did they really just witness a rookie stop a rampaging vice-captain? Ukai, in particular, took notice, making a mental note to keep an eye on the tall blonde boy.

Nishinoya himself was stunned, though, not for the same reason. He was looking around, frantic and confused as if he didn't remember how he got there. Ukai was the first to approach the poor boy, albeit cautiously.

"Hey, Mr Vice-Captain, right? You uh- you don't seem to be doing so hot. Mind explaining what was that just now?" He asked. Nishinoya gave him a blank stare, clearly not processing his question.

"Um, I sorta got hit here-" began Tsukishima before Tanaka interrupted him.

"NOYAAAAA!!! You let your powers go out of control again!!" cried the captain.

"Wait, again?" asked Ukai.

"Whenever Nishinoya's under severe emotional stress, his mind blanks and lets his mana run wild," Narita explained.

"Um, I may have tanked that hit but probably still need medical attention-"

"Yeah, yeah, I used to be a guard too, y'know. Everyone's powers can go out of whack under extreme emotions. I'm just asking what happened to cause this... mess..." Ukai clarified.

"Yeah, Noya. What got you so riled up?" asked a concerned Kinoshita.

"Seriously? Is no one gonna ask how I am-"

"I... I don't remember..." stuttered Nishinoya, feeling an aching feeling in his chest. He closed his eyes and tried digging through his mind to dredge up any details about the past one minute. Something about seeing somebody... him trying to run... why was he trying to run away? What or who could've scared him so much that he wanted to get away from there as soon as possible?

"Vice-Captain Nishinoya, sir!!" came a familiar voice. Ahhh, there was just something about Hinata saying those words that stirred pure elation in him. Was it because he always said it so respectfully yet excitedly? He didn't really know.

Then, a brief glimpse of his blurry memories hit him. He was in the hall with Hinata, Kageyama and Yamaguchi, wasn't he? Oh no! He didn't scare them, did he?

"Oh, hey Shouyou. Are you okay? Did I hurt you guys?" asked Nishinoya. He could see Kageyama and Yamaguchi trailing behind the little rookie and they all seemed mostly unharmed, so he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Don't worry, sir! Mr Suga protected us!" Hinata assured. Ah, Suga, ever the reliable person. No doubt one of his potions had something to do with it. Nishinoya treats both him and Daichi like regular friends, but he really did respect them as the prime minister and king they were.

Hold on. Suga was here. What was he doing here? Noya asked the orange-head and his fellow rookies as much.

"Oh, Lord Sugawara and his majesty are both here to watch us train with Lord Ukai," Kageyama answered. Takeda nodded in affirmation, vouching for the archer's words. Ukai glanced at Takeda questioningly, wondering if the secretary-general had anything to do with Kageyama's figure of speech. Everyone else, meanwhile, was dumbfounded at the fact that they had now been visited by the king twice in such a short timespan.

Sure enough, Sugawara and Daichi appeared atop the slope, prompting some excited pointing and squealing. Daichi's second visit was an honour in and of itself, but to add the prime minister on top of it? When was the last time he visited?

But the really mindblowing moment was definitely the third person with them.

"HOLY GARASU!! IS THAT THE COMMANDER-GENERAL?!"

"Oh my- IT IS!! IT'S GENERAL AZUMANE!!"

"Wow, has he aged?"

"It's only been months but it feels like it's been forever!!"

"KARASUNO, FIGHT!!"

Suga patted Asahi hard on the back, teasing him with 'see, they're so excited to see you'. Asahi could only wave sheepishly, face red with embarrassment as he searched the crowd for a certain brown-haired boy with a blonde tuft.

...

_General... Azumane..._

_Asahi..._

_ASAHI!_

"ASAHI!!" screamed Nishinoya. Well, that was an easy find.

"Noya?" said Asahi, searching for the area where Noya's voice came from.

Some of the guards began stepping out of the way once they realised what was happening. No, not the fact that Asahi was looking for Noya, but the fact that Nishinoya was glowing again. Sparks of lightning began flying out of the vice-captain as he began sputtering unintelligible nonsense. Especially with what had just occurred, they knew better than to stand close to him while he was losing control. Fortunately, the glow and the people moving away made it very clear where the vice-captain was.

"Noya! Wait, Noya, don't!!" Asahi shouted, now running as fast as he could towards the lightning enveloped guard.

Nishinoya was a bit more conscious of his actions this time but was still helpless to stop himself. The building mana was a result of his emotions, after all, and his increasingly panicked state of losing control again was not helping. At best, he wouldn't roll away and leave a trail of destruction, but the resulting blast would still mess up the guards close to him. Please, Suga do something, or Daichi, or anyone-

Nishinoya felt a hand on his shoulder, which was unexpected considering he was, y'know, emitting lightning.

"Noya! Bro! Calm down!!" Tanaka exclaimed. The gross contortion of his face made it clear that he was doing his best to resist the pain.

"Noya, remember what to do in these situations. Breathe slowly..." Narita shouted, attempting to get close but kept getting warded off by the lightning.

"Noya? Noya! Look at me! In... and out... in, out..." Kinoshita had positioned himself in front of the vice-captain, catching his attention and doing his best to help him. Nishinoya followed his lead and the overflowing mana began to die down. It still wasn't enough, though, because by now, Kinoshita had made way for a certain Azumane Asahi, who appeared right in front of him, and the lightning began to flare up again, his cheeks growing deeper shades of red.

"A-A-Asahi, d-don't come near me, please..." Nishinoya pleaded. He wasn't sure if Asahi could tank the hit and he was even more unsure of his friends who were standing near him to calm him down. Tanaka in particular still had his hand on Noya's shoulder, and by now he was seriously gritting his teeth, letting out the occasional yelp of pain while his hand faltered. Nishinoya couldn't begin to imagine life in the guard without all of them, and if Ennoshita were there...

While Nishinoya was desperately trying to hold back his powers as much as he could, Asahi's stomach churned. If this was how Noya reacted to just seeing him and hearing his voice, how could he possibly think to fight alongside him again? This was a mistake. This whole 'coming back' thing was a mistake. He should just leave so that Noya can calm down.

...

But perhaps he should be the adult he is and give him some closure.

"Noy- Yuu, I'm so sorry for back then. I should've considered your feelings more before blindsiding you with me leaving..."

_Okay, Asahi, you're doing good so far._

"I mean, especially since I knew how you felt about me... how you loved me..." This elicited some intrigued gasps from other guards not in the loop, especially the soon-to-be-former city council members.

_Alright, Asahi, now make sure he knows why you did it. He has to hear it from you._

"But because you loved me, you thought you always needed to protect me, to the point where you would get so hurt- I couldn't stand it. You're the vice-captain, you should know better than to needlessly put your life in danger!" His words induced a visible reaction from Nishinoya, surprised that Asahi was putting his foot down.

_Okay... you're coming off a bit odd, but this is the right thing to do! You have to make sure he doesn't do this again!_

"So, what I'm trying to say is..."

_Go on, you have to do this. Let him down gently..._

_"It's still gonna be the same risks. When that happens, you both will just have to be brave." Kageyama's words chose this moment to present themselves again._

"... let's face them together from now on!!" 

_..._

_What?_

Noya's eyes widened, and so did the eyes of everyone else there. Most of them were downright shocked, except for Hinata and Kageyama, who were smiling slightly, soon followed by Daichi and Suga, who became more intrigued.

"If you're gonna be so reckless all the time, then I'll have to be here to ground you! I need to be here to protect you back!"

_Asahi! What are you saying?! I thought you wanted to leave?!_

"After all, when two people love each other, they have to have each other's backs, right?!" he shouted. The Karasuno Guard showed off their true talent once again, gasping. Today was certainly an interesting day. First the Nekoma announcement, then a new chief advisor, and now the commander-general was back and even professing his feelings!

_What the heck, Asahi?! Did you just confess?!_

Nishinoya's face was indescribable. Well, that was a lie, because there were only two words that could describe his face right now: glowing red. The glow was from the mana. The red was obvious.

"So... no matter if you have forgiven me or still resent me... I want to be here to protect you! Because-... because-..."

_Asahi wait! His emotions!!_

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU TOO, NISHINOYA YUU!!!" He declared. The crowd went wild. Excited squeals, elated gossip, exchange of cash used in bets, all the works.

Nishinoya responded by his eyes glowing and more lightning sparks flying out in full, electrocuting Tanaka and forcing him and everyone else back.

_Crap! See, Asahi! Told you to watch his emotions!! Uhhh!!! What to do?! Trust your instincts!!_

"CALM DOWN NOYA!!!" He shouted, taking a full swing of his hammer and unleashed his own magic blast. The bright orange blast resembled a normal sword slash by mechanism, but other than that, it was completely different. Instead of a long slender shape, it was round and bulky with a tail of magic energy like a comet, and instead of a slash, it was a blunt force blast that sent Nishinoya flying off to the side, the vice-captain smashing into a tree and the lightning around him ceasing all at once.

_INSTINCTS, BAD!!!_

Tanaka was the first to act, ignoring his existing pain and ran to his friend, crying his name out. Nishinoya seemed mostly unharmed due to the mana that was enveloping him cushioning the blow. Still, he basically devastated the tree he crashed into, leaving nothing but a jagged stump and a fallen trunk and branches. Was that the mana's work or Asahi's hammer blast?

"Noya?! Noya?! _Ow_. Are you okay, bro?!" There was no response for a few moments before Tanaka heard Nishinoya groaning. The vice-captain was slowly coming to (again) and was massaging his head and neck.

"Ryu?" That was all Tanaka needed to hear to know that he was okay and hugged him tightly, prompting the shorter guard to complain about his body aching all over. Kinoshita and Narita had come over as well, followed by Hinata and Kageyama, Daichi and Suga staying back to keep the other guards in line.

And of course, Mr Azumane 'I just confessed my love to defuse a minorly dangerous situation, what did you do today?' Asahi, who was relieved to see he wasn't hurt.

The two lovesick idiots (because let's admit it, that's what they were) only stared awkwardly at each other, not quite sure how to follow up on the situation. Their friends beside them gave them the space they needed (except for Hinata and Kageyama, who had to be ushered away).

"That... was kinda cool, not gonna lie," Noya began awkwardly.

"No... it was cheesy..."

"I mean, what you said was true, anyway... I should've thought about your feelings too, and how you felt every time I did something risky..."

"I- uh... I honestly wasn't thinking-" Nishinoya giggled at that.

"You rarely do, ya big softie."

"H-Hey! That's mean!" Noya only laughed harder.

"See what I mean?" Asahi replied with an embarrassed whimper, and Noya's chest tightened at how cute it was.

"So... I said I'd be here no matter if you've forgiven me or resent me... but..."

"But?" asked Nishinoya, already knowing Asahi's next sentence.

"Do... do you forgive me?"

"I already did the day you resigned."

"But you were so mad!"

"Yeah, at myself, for looking so stupid in front of you. Y'know, tantrum and... fire and all that..." Tears began rolling down Asahi's cheeks; he had been tearing up for a while now and were just beginning to flow.

"I- I'm sorry..."

"No, I should be sorry for calling you all that stuff and acting like a child..." Asahi sniffed and grinned.

"... You still do." Noya slapped Asahi playfully on the shoulder, mostly due to the surprise that Asahi actually made a quip.

"Hey!" They giggled. And then they fell back to a comfortable silence. Neither uttered another word, revelling in the quiet. Then, they embraced each other tightly, determined not to let go this time.

* * *

**Bonus scene:**

"Okay! That's enough lovebirds! Come on, I have a briefing to do!" shouted Ukai. Nishinoya pouted at their intimate time being interrupted while Asahi chuckled.

"I guess we have no choice," said the larger guard, helping his friend, no, boyfriend(? Did they make it official again?) up to his feet.

"CHOP CHOP MAN BUN!!" Ukai hollered, his words piercing Asahi like arrows, jabbing his hairstyle. Now it was Nishinoya's turn to chuckle.

"Yeah, let's get going."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are, in fact, bullying Tsukishima hours. Also, yay! I'm back! I still have more tests though so I'll have to wait and see how my schedule turns out. Still, thank you for reading this far in!


	20. Training begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After writing this chapter, I have a newfound respect for authors who can choreograph battles convincingly.

"Okay, now that the two lovebirds are done making out-" began Ukai, opting to ignore Asahi's panic and Nishinoya's insistence that they only hugged, "we can now begin the briefing."

The chief advisor made way for his four friends, all of whom struck their signature(?) poses again, causing Ukai to gag.

"Firstly, some formal introductions. This copy-cat blondie over here-"

"My hairstyle isn't even remotely similar to yours!"

"- is Takinoue Yusuke, or as I call him, Tattsun or Taki Taki, depending on my mood. Absolute wall back in my day. This defender mage is not to be overlooked." Mr Takinoue finger-gunned at the curious guards, clearly trying to look cool. This was not helped by the fact that his dark brown coloured sideburns hinted that his blonde hair may be dyed. But hey, so was Ukai's, so maybe they were more similar than they realised... in the hair aspect at least.

"Next is Mr Square Face-"

"Are the insults gonna be a thing now?"

"-, his name's Uchizawa Hidenori. Feel free to call him Uchi Guchi. A reliable swordsman who saved my ass a couple of times back then."

"I guess they are," sighed Mr Uchizawa, giving the others a modest wave. Yamaguchi couldn't help but cringe at the nickname. No way was he bringing up his name in front of Ukai now. Perhaps he needs a new name...

"And up next is-"

"Mori Yukinari, defender class, at your service!" The curly-haired one interjected, refusing to be at Ukai's chopping block of introductions, to which the young chief advisor was clearly miffed about.

"Just for that, please call this guy-"

'Don't you dare-"

"- Snoring Mori, because he's a pain to sleep next to!" Ukai then promptly ignored Mr Mori's denials of the nickname and set his eyes on the last man with the parted hair. They stared each other down like a western showdown until Ukai opened his mouth.

"Then I guess that leaves-"

"Shimada M- _mmph mph mmph_!" Ukai wasn't gonna let him have his peaceful intro, tackling the man into an almost chokehold with his hand over his mouth.

"Mocking-" Desperate to stop his sentence, Shimada bit into Ukai's arm, forcing the clerk to let him go.

"Makoto! Cavalry class!! Here to- _mmph mmmpphh_!!" He yelled before getting tackled again. 

"Exactly! Mocking Makoto, 'cause he just won't shut up about a nice attack he pulled off by luck!" By now, Takinoue, Uchizawa and Mori were moving in to break up the scuffle... or so the guards thought. The other three men were cheering the two brawlers on while pulling them apart. Were they even putting effort into separating them?

This really wasn't Tsukishima's day. Nevermind all the stuff that happened earlier, now he was stuck getting trained by a bunch of manchildren. At that, the blonde sighed and began looking for an escape route. If he pushed a jumping Hinata, who was trying to see all the action, out of the way and squeezed past a laughing Tanaka by hiding behind a now panicked Asahi, perhaps he could-

"Alright! Now, let's get down to business!" Ukai declared, eager to defeat the goons of Nekoma. This short little statement did its job, making sure all eyes were on him. Those eyes could probably notice he and Shimada were both a little roughed up, though.

_What the heck? Weren't they fighting a moment ago?!_ thought Tsukishima, rapidly glancing between the five men. Sure enough, all of them were now standing properly with hands either hanging to the side, folded, or on their hips, looking much more professional than before.

"A _Nise Proelium_ is a team battle, so obviously, we're gonna be focusing on different team dynamics today," Shimada informed. As if on cue, Uchizawa unsheathed a formal-looking parchment.

"We shall follow the standard team size of a _Proelium_ , so form teams of six! Preferably with a good mixture of classes, of course."

Tsukishima was not having it. Team battle? Again? He barely enjoyed the last one he was in! Granted, that was because he thought that the king totally went easy on Kageyama and Hinata despite saying he wouldn't, but that was still just a team of three. A team of six would only result in a higher chance he would be paired up with people he didn't like as well as face off against people he didn't like. Oh, why did everything have to be a team effort?

"Hey! Tsukki! Come join us!" _Oh no, that voice wasn't Yamaguchi's, and there was only one other person who would dare call him Tsukki at this stage._

Tsukishima tried, again, to walk away, but Tanaka was too quick, snatching the blondie up before he could make any decent headway.

"Captain Tanaka, I promise you I won't bother you nor Vice-Captain Nishinoya again if you just let me sit this one battle out!" he begged, although physically, he didn't really make an effort to escape the captain's clutches.

"Yeah right, ya salty blonde. We both know you aren't gonna stop bothering us, so don't try and bargain your way out of this," said Tanaka, dragging the taller boy by the collar of his shirt. "Plus, it's Lord Ukai who specifically requested that you and I and a few others form a team, so you couldn't escape even if you tried!"

"Wait, Lord Ukai requested what?!"

"Yeah! It's gonna be you, me, Hinata-"

_Yikes number one, two if you count Tanaka._

"- Kageyama,-"

_Another yikes. Could this get any worse?!_

"- Yamaguchi,-"

_... Okay, that wasn't so bad._

"- and his majesty."

_Oh wow, that was really good! Huh, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all._

"Who are we up against?"

"Three of the city council, I think Mr Takinoue, Mr Shimada and Mr Mori, plus Suga, Noya, and Asahi for class diversity!"

_Oh no!_ thought Tsukishima, that matchup sounded rough. Although, he hadn't seen Sugawara in action before. What class was he even? And to be fair, he hadn't seen the city council members in action either, he was just assuming they were tough, and with great reason! These guys were veterans with experience, something he wasn't ashamed to admit he didn't have.

Still, what was Lord Ukai planning exactly with this combination? He understood they couldn't all have an equal composition of classes in each team, but he couldn't help but notice he was the only defender in his little group, while the other side had two defenders and a reflector. It was supposedly balanced out by Asahi being their only 'swordsman' opponent, but he wasn't blind, he saw Asahi swing Nishinoya into the tree earlier.

Nevertheless, those were the cards he was dealt with so he would just have to play them as best as he could. But with the forever uncooperative Kageyama and the impulsive and inexperienced Hinata, he was thinking it would take a Herculean effort to even have a chance of winning this.

* * *

Sugawara was a ranged class mage?! That, Hinata did not see coming. Sure, Suga was always messing around with potions that seemed to play more and more important roles by the day, but being of the ranged class?

The prime minister was holding the staff he had when he and Michimiya rescued them in the Seijoh forest, another little potion vial hanging off of its tip. Hinata charged forward with his sword in hand to try and get closer to Suga. A closer inspection of the staff revealed a glistening white gemstone embedded in its scroll-shaped tip, and further inspection would reveal that it was glowing, like really brightly, as if charging up with magical energy. _Crap!_

Hinata panicked, desperately shifting his weight to the side to dodge the beam fire, and just in time. A white laser-like beam with orange edges shot out of the embedded gemstone, barely singeing the boy's side as it passed him... and right towards Asahi. _Crap again!_

_They're gonna do that combo move that swordsman and ranged classes do! I'm toast!_ thought Hinata. Asahi, who actually looked pretty intimidating swinging his hammer on the battlefield, was right there to intercept the laser beam. However, he seemed to hesitate for a split second when he got to the beam, which caused him to miss his swing and had to watch disheartened as the laser passed him too. 

"Ah! I'm so useless-" he wanted to scold himself, but a certain vice-captain was going to make sure that didn't happen. Moving as fast as the lightning he shot out, Nishinoya moved right in front of the incoming laser and held up his braces. Hinata could only panic once again, running towards where Tanaka was fighting Takinoue. But Nishinoya was no stranger to this scenario, in fact, it was the most common scenario reflector mages had to face. He angled his arms to where the beam reflected off of them would keep heading straight for Hinata, much to the boy's dismay.

_He adjusted his arms that quickly? Gosh, they're so cool!_ thought Hinata, hoping it wouldn't be his last thoughts. Dashing behind the captain, who had just unleashed his own slash in an attempt to break Takinoue's feather sphere that he had enveloped himself in, Hinata was still not out of danger. In the end, it was Tsukishima who appeared in front of him to tank the hit with his winged arms.

"Gee, thanks Tsukishima!" Hinata said, genuinely grateful. Of course, Tsukishima scoffed in return.

"I was protecting the captain, not you. He's the one actually pulling his weight." Hinata was about to go off on him about how hypocritical he was being, complimenting the high-ranking guards he usually disrespected when Nishinoya called out to him.

"C'mon Shouyou! You're gonna have to do more than run!" Nishinoya loudly clanged his braces together, "you want to show those Nekoma punks who's boss, don't cha?!"

"Ahhh! But you guys are so scary!" Hinata whined, more so just letting out a bit of steam, which earned him another scoff from Tsukishima.

"That's what I've been saying!!" agreed Asahi, hammer shaking in his hand.

"Oh c'mon Asahi, this is no time to be a wimp! You too, Hinata! There's no time to be scared on the battlefield!!" Sugawara yelled, on the surface giving them a pep talk while sneakily readying another laser. Tsukishima caught him and dashed forward, absorbing the beam with his wings before the beam could make any significant distance and bashed the prime minister in the chin with said wings.

Sugawara stumbled back in shock, losing his bearings and crashing into Mori, throwing the older man off and disrupting his wall of black feathers, allowing Daichi, who was putting pressure on Mori but making no significant progress before to strike a decisive blow. His sword, coated in his black wisp-like magic, struck down hard on the man, knocking him briefly unconscious. And for the final blow, Daichi swung his blade, a slash of black wisp knocking Mori out of the marked area.

Whilst Takeda tended to a now recovering Mori, Ukai shouted, "Remember! Once you're out of bounds, you're out until the next round!"

"There's no time to be caught off guard on the battlefield either, Suga. Are you getting rusty?" Daichi mocked, raising his sword to strike the downed Sugawara. Suddenly, he felt himself getting shocked by lightning, forcing him to stumble backwards slightly and his swing to weaken. Nishinoya had activated his rolling thunder and blitzed his way to Daichi, his arm braces catching the blade while his lightning stunned Daichi.

"Even if he is, I won't let him go down that easy!" Daichi merely smirked, seemingly resisting the pain of the shocks.

"I won't let you mock my kingship, Vice-Captain of the Guard," he sneered, rapidly twisting his blade. Black wisp flew away from the blade and wrapped itself around his right foot. Nishinoya could see the writing on the wall and tried moving to defend, but Daichi was too fast. The wisp-wrapped leg kicked and sent the vice-captain flying back with tremendous force.

_Woah, so is the wisp some sort of reinforcement magic thingy? So far, it seems to strengthen anything it surrounds!_ remarked Hinata, in awe of the king's ability. He was doing his best not to make the same mistake at the Seijoh briefing. Plus, if he was gonna be fighting alongside these people, he figured it'd be best to know these people's powers.

Then again, he was only standing around and not doing any actual fighting. Meanwhile, Nishinoya had landed and skidded, stopping right before the boundary. He shot the king a feral grin, determined to get his revenge. Even Asahi wasn't standing idly by, fiercely (read: nervously) engaging Daichi in a hammer vs sword fight in an effort to protect Suga.

Sugawara had not given up either, firing laser after laser at Tsukishima, trying to get the blonde guard off his tail. Impressively, Tsukishima tanked every single one of them, again catching Ukai's eye. However, Sugawara was about to show him he wasn't elected prime minister on a whim. Instead of firing, Suga instead used the long end of his staff to trip the tall blonde up. It wasn't a complete loss, however, as Tsukishima fell on top of Suga, crashing into him wings first, which hurt the ranged mage a bit.

_Probably should've calculated that a bit better..._ thought Suga. He really should have, because by then, Hinata had snapped out of his daydream and had come over to knock Suga out, striking his forehead with the hilt of his sword. The orange-haired boy took a few moments to hop up and down in celebration before having his parade rained on by Tsukishima.

"Stop jumping and help me throw him out of bounds, you shrimp." Once again, Hinata put up a fuss, but he wasn't fussing anymore when Tsukishima saved him once again by standing in between him and Nishinoya, who had attempted to save Suga via rolling thunder. Lightning crackled against Tsukishima's wings, both guards rock-solid in their stances.

"HURRY! THROW HIM OUT!" Tsukishima yelled. Hinata didn't want to stay and find out what would happen if either Suga awoke or Noya broke through, so he heeded the blonde's demand, dragging an unconscious Suga towards the boundary. While on his mini-quest, he could've been hit by a hammer blast had it not been for Daichi redirecting the trajectory of Asahi's hammer downwards instead of forwards with his sword. And with a toss with all his might, Sugawara was out.

Yet, there was still so much going on in this training battle. For example, Takinoue and Tanaka were still going at each other, the Captain of the Guard failing to make a single break in Takinoue's sphere of black feathers. It was just too sturdy, but surely those feathers had some sort of weakness, right?

Tanaka was about to find out because Takinoue was done playing games. A chunk of feathers strayed from the spherical formation and circled Tanaka. His eyes widened, quickly guessing what was happening, and he was right because soon he was inside a little dome of his own. More and more feathers began to enforce the barrier around Tanaka as Takinoue lowered his own defences and, albeit slowly, Tanaka's little sphere began moving him towards the boundary.

The captain was kicking and screaming at the feather formation, unleashing slice after slice at it. But no matter what he did, the wall wouldn't budge. The white line of the boundary appeared inside his dome and Tanaka knew he was running out of time.

"Ain't no way in hell I'm going out like this!!" He yelled from inside the sphere, concentrating his mana into the blade of his sword. The metal glowed an orange light, black edges surrounding it. The coat of magical energy grew thicker and thicker, all while Tanaka was being pushed closer and closer towards the edge. It was now or never!!

Tanaka prepared to release the largest slash he had summoned so far in this battle... when he paused. He paused to think about this logically. No slash had been effective so far, which might imply that this barrier was impenetrable, but that was simply impossible. He was sure even Matsukawa's ironwood had to be breakable, let alone Takinoue's. So if slashes weren't effective...

Taking all the magic he had concentrated, he thrust the sword into the wall, piercing right through it. Unbeknownst to Tanaka, outside the barrier, Takinoue was panicking, not expecting Tanaka to have broke through so soon. And yet Tanaka was on a roll, lifting the sword up and ripping the spherical barrier apart. Heck yeah, now he was in business! He was so gonna pummel Takinoue! He was just getting started! He was-

"OUT?!?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Takeda pointed down towards the seething man's foot, which was touching the boundary.

"In an official _Proelium_ , that's an out. To help you avoid making the same mistake during the real deal, we shall follow those rules in training," explained the secretary-general. There was an urge within the captain to throw the biggest fit known to man, but the man in him told him to accept his defeat, and so he did.

While all of this was happening, an aerial battle between Shimada and Yamaguchi was occurring, with Kageyama giving his fellow rookie ground support. Even so, Yamaguchi was clearly outmatched. Shimada, like Kinoshita, had fully-fledged wings on his back, signifying his status as a veteran cavalry mage, outclassing the rookie still on a broom. It really was unfair, the wings gave the user so much more manoeuvrability and speed, but hey, maybe eventually, Yamaguchi would get to the same level. But for now, this was a disadvantage the green-haired guard needed to be overcome.

Despite being a gifted archer, it was just plain difficult for Kageyama to land a solid shot on Shimada as he acrobatically spun and swam through the air. No lie, it would be difficult for anyone, really. The raven-head briefly compared the acrobatic Shimada to the arguably more graceful Kinoshita, feeling that the older veteran 'exerted' more force on the air every time he turned. Kinoshita, on the other hand, was slower yet smoother in his turns. Processing this, Kageyama switched strategies.

"Yamaguchi!" He yelled, shooting a quick bolt to stall the opposing veteran as his fellow rookie flew down to him. Shimada, admittedly, was curious as to what the young guards were planning, not really making an effort to counterattack while Kageyama shot half-hearted projectiles at him as he whispered to Yamaguchi for a while. The young cavalry mage suddenly nodded and took flight, and Shimada braced himself for whatever attack was coming.

Yet a major attack never came. Yamaguchi simply tried to hit him once with his lance, something which Shimada easily swiped away with his own lance, and then the two were in a chase again; the junior chasing the senior while Kageyama shooting at them again. They hadn't changed their strategy at all, it seemed!

This confused Shimada. While he flew and made sharp turns to dodge Yamaguchi's charges, he wondered to himself just what they could've discussed in that brief moment. He was doing sharp changes of directions more often as Yamaguchi seemed determined to hit him from any angle possible, did that have something to do with it? The veteran dodged another one of the rookie's lance charges once again, and that's when it hit him... both figuratively and literally.

He had been struck directly in the gut with a bolt. Nothing lethal or even remotely damaging, of course, but the pain was still there. How, though? Shimada began falling to the ground, thinking about how this had happened and how to get himself out of this. His brain had settled on the guess that Kageyama had told Yamaguchi to get him to do more sharp turns so as to have more windows of opportunity to actually hit him.

The veteran had guessed right. Kageyama, while comparing Shimada and Kinoshita's flight patterns, had noticed that the veteran paused for a split second whenever he switched directions midair in an instant, a problem that did not apply to the lieutenant since he always did large, curving turns to change directions instead. Put merely, Shimada could turn on a dime but paused for less than a second while doing so while Kinoshita was always moving but turned slower because of it.

Still, Shimada wasn't going down that easily. With several strong flaps of his wings, he steadied himself just before hitting the ground, his feet nearly touching the boundary. Magic began swirling in a cone shape around his lance, accumulating at the tip, and he pointed it right at Kageyama. The fact that he was so close to the boundary meant that the recoil from firing such a large beam would knock him out of the ring, but at least he would knock Kageyama out with him. Getting rid of the genius archer would definitely give his team a fighting chance.

Yamaguchi watched this all unfold before him and thought back to his time in Seijoh, or rather, just outside its walls. He had deliberately opted to guard the supply bags out of fear and cowered even while Hinata fought Watari. He had always feared being unimportant, yet compared to his teammates right now, that was a truth. So, may as well make himself useful for once, right?

Charging in front of the beam wouldn't have worked, the force would've just knocked both of the rookies out. Instead, Yamaguchi decided to repeat his move that saved Hinata from Watari, charging straight at Shimada, swerving to hit him with the side of his broom. And just like that, he had disrupted the potential laser beam and Shimada was out of bounds... but so was he. His whole broom was clearly beyond the line from the momentum, Takeda coming up to confirm their loss. Before retreating to the sidelines, the rookie cavalry mage gave a thumbs up to Kageyama. The poor raven-head boy, in his social ineptitude, returned the gesture poorly; his thumbs up looking like a deflated worm.

At last, it was down to Hinata, Kageyama, Tsukishima and Daichi vs Asahi, Nishinoya and Takinoue. Things were not looking good for either side, though. Daichi had lost his 'sword' fight with Asahi because a hammer was much heavier than a sword but Tsukishima had Nishinoya locked down in an intense staring contest, both of them unable to do anything without incoming attacks.

Kageyama, now free, shot at Asahi to try and help Daichi, but Takinoue was there to defend him in Noya's place, surrounding the commander-general in a sphere of feathers. And although it seemed like nothing could get in nor out of the barrier at first, this was quickly disproven by a colossal hammer blast coming out of the sphere directly at Daichi.

The king was no rookie, he rolled out of the way immediately, his hands stopping just centimetres away from the boundary. Needless to say, another well-placed beam could be his end. Both Asahi and Takinoue clearly knew this, as another beam came firing towards Daichi from within the barrier.

Daichi's hesitated for a brief moment in order to avoid rolling towards the wrong side. He then mentally berated himself for this as now he was too late to dodge anywhere. Luckily, Tsukishima suddenly appeared in between the beam and Daichi, nullifying it completely, although the recoil caused him to fall on top of the king.

Before either of them could take a moment to recover, Nishinoya was already 'rolling thundering' his way towards the defenceless two. Daichi quickly cast one last sword slash, altering the reflector mage's trajectory slightly, but not enough to prevent him and Tsukishima from getting knocked out. Yet again, however, there was no time for Noya to celebrate his double kill, as Daichi's earlier slash had seemed to put him at just the right angle for Kageyama to land a shot from behind, knocking him out of bounds too.

"Holy Garasu! What just happened there?" Takeda asked, bemused by the quick action. Ukai snorted, impressed at how quick everybody's reactions were.

"Just know that it's Tattsun and man-bun vs Mr Grumpypants and the shrimp."

"... Sorry, who?"

"Kick their asses, you two!!" shouted Tanaka, taking his shirt off and swinging it up in the air.

"You can do this, Yusuke!" cheered Shimada.

"Man! I didn't even get to use my potions!!" Suga complained.

"C'mon Asahi! You're about to win this!!" cheered Noya, jumping excitedly beside Tanaka.

"No, go out like a wimp."

"TSUKKI!!"

"Hinata! Kageyama! Remember what I told you before!" Daichi yelled. 

Kageyama tensed at that, understanding what the king meant completely. He really should learn how to tense at the right moments, though, as another hammer blast came right for him. Thankfully, Hinata intercepted that rather quickly, swatting it away from Kageyama, despite being on the other side of the field earlier.

"Woah, he's fast!" Shimada remarked.

"Heck yeah! Shouyou!" cheered Nishinoya.

"Whose side are you on?" Tsukishima questioned. While the spectators continued to bicker amongst themselves, Hinata and Kageyama gave each other looks. The archer raised a brow. The swordsman nodded. The archer raised it higher. The swordsman pouted and nodded even more furiously. Finally, the archer sighed and readied himself, a large bolt forming in his bow.

"I'll admit, Kageyama is talented, but two rookies against two veterans? I'm not sure about those odds," Ukai remarked. Upon hearing this, Takeda's eyes lit up.

"Oh, I think you'd be very impressed with what they can do, sir."

"Y'know, just call me Ukai."

Hinata stood to attention, his hands gripping onto the hilt of his sword as tightly as he could. He kept bobbing and weaving to dodge the hammer blasts, but a moving target at this speed was no problem for Kageyama. The archer unleashed his bolt, shooting it straight towards Hinata. Blade and bolt connected, and soon enough, there was a large, gaping hole in the barrier, made obvious by Asahi's terrified scream.

Ukai's jaw dropped as Takeda mischievously poked his head into his line of sight, grinning like a toddler holding two lollipops in their hands.

Takinoue's eyes widened. A sphere that even Tanaka struggled against at first was torn through by a rookie combo just like that. Probably should've paid more attention, because in his distraction, another such powered-up combo bolt came flying towards him, knocking him past the other spectators and straight into the trees. He probably would've been bleeding had he not shielded his back with his feathers.

With the last defender mage out, all that stood before the two rookies was the now panicking commander-general, not because he was losing, but because they tore through a shield and he literally couldn't see it coming. Anyone would've been afraid.

"YOU CAN DO THIS ASAHI!!!" yelled Noya, lifting himself up off of Tanaka's shoulders like an acrobat. His words reached Asahi, the hammerman steeling himself and unleashed several undoubtedly devastating blasts towards the two. Noya was right. Suga was right. Daichi was right. He wasn't useless! He was the last one standing!

Hinata stood in awe as he counted the six humongous hammer blasts headed their way. They looked like glowing comets that wanted nothing more than to show off their beauty.

_So this is the power of a general... can I be like that someday?_ he thought. While he was in his daydream, three blasts hit him all in a row, each big enough to swallow him whole.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!" screamed Asahi, fearing for the boy's life. Everyone else was similarly shocked, suddenly very afraid three blasts might have been just enough.

"Oh no! Someone go get the medics, quick!!" Takeda ordered, and Shimada flew off, wasting absolutely no time. Meanwhile, Suga ran up to the poor boy, and after doing the necessary checks of consciousness (conclusion: he was unconscious), he began pouring a healing potion into his mouth.

"DUMBASS!!" Kageyama yelled. _For crying out loud, it's like you need me to take care of you._

"Heh, loser," quipped Tsukishima, ignoring Yamaguchi's horrified look as his childhood friend scolded him for being insensitive to someone dying.

* * *

**The next day**

Hinata elected to ignore the medic's warnings to stay back and rest, instead opting to go for an evening jog since he missed his regular morning one with Kageyama today (stupid infirmary beds being comfortable. Oh, and I guess stupid injuries, too). The air felt surprisingly fresh this evening as he let it run across his face. Was this because he was cooped up in the infirmary before? It had only been a day, though, considering the training battle was yesterday evening. Was he that much of an outdoor person?

Guess the jog was **too** soothing, however, as soon enough he found himself right next to the northern border wall. How did he even end up here? He had just been following the path and this is where it led, so... whatever?

What couldn't be a 'whatever' though was the distinct sound of... something outside the walls. Did it sound like... lightning? Fire? Water? And were those drums? Swords clashing? What was going on out there?! It sounded like a mini-war was out there! Yet there was no yelling? Or battle cries? Like a battle with no soldiers? Was that even possible?

Hinata concluded this was much too suspicious to leave alone, so, climbing a nearby guard tower, he tried to see what or who was making those noises. Why weren't the border guards noticing this- oh, they were sleeping. _Sigh... Captain Tanaka wasn't lying when he said the guard was in bad shape... but I didn't think it'd be this bad._

Figuring that waking napping guards were more trouble than whatever was causing the noise, Hinata scaled down the wall alone and wandered into the forest north of the kingdom. While heading towards the source, he tried to remember the map of the local region Suga had shown. What was to the north of them again... Shiratori... something. It was another kingdom, basically.

Wait! What if it's that kingdom instead of Seijoh attacking them?! And he had wandered here alone?! What was he thinking!? Perhaps he should take Kageyama and Tsukishima's advice and learn how not to be stupid!

The sight before him was not one he was expecting. Instead of an army, or even a few well-armoured troops, sitting in a little clearing was a single mage. He assumed he was a mage, anyway, because they were covered from head to toe in a long white hooded cloak with a red and gold checkered... necklace? No, a collar, a woven broad collar on his chest, with an amulet seemingly designed to look like an eye in front of it. A gemstone belt bound the mage's waist and gave the robe a soft, weightless look to it. And on their feet were plain open sandals, unbefitting of a trek in the forest. So clearly, they were not from around here.

Yet most jarring of all was the source of the noise. The mage had apparently stuck their staff into the ground and a holographic projection of... something appeared from it. It looked like some sort of battlefield simulation, judging by the miniature projections of what seemed like two warring armies on it. At least, Hinata hoped it was a projection, otherwise whoever this was was quite literally watching troops die in front of him and not a single emotion was pouring out of him.

"Um, hi?" Hinata greeted, ever the social butterfly. Nevermind that this figure hadn't unhooded prior to this and was still suspicious, but Hinata should've at least been more cautious of the fact this person was watching troops fight, simulation or not. Whoever this was was not simple.

His greeting seemed to have caught the mage off guard, however, as whatever projection from his staff immediately vanished as he picked it up from the ground and held it towards Hinata in defence;. The orange-head immediately raised his hands showing he meant no harm.

"Sorry! Sorry! It's just I heard the noise and was wondering what it was. Then-"

"Oh, that's just my game..."

"Huh? Your... game?"

"Yeah... it's a tactic simulator I enchanted into this gem," said the mage, pointing to the glistening ruby embedded in his staff. Unfortunately, that sentence made no sense to Hinata. You could enchant... games(?) into a gemstone?

"Uhhh... I didn't understand whatever you just said but hey! At least it isn't actual people dying, right? Hehe..." he replied awkwardly, chiding himself for it immediately after. The stranger merely tilted their head, and Hinata could've sworn he saw a tiny smile under the hood.

"Ummm, you mind...?" Hinata asked, making an act of taking a hood off. Surprisingly, the mage complied, and Hinata got a good look at their appearance. The mage's voice indicated that they were a he, and his hair grew down to his chin-level. It was coloured weirdly too, being blonde with clear black roots. It reminded Hinata of the little puddings that this one market vendor sold every day.

The man/boy(?) looked young, maybe around 17 or 18, was of average height and had a small build with an unsteady posture. Yet his striking feature was his almost thin, bordering slit-like, golden pupils, looking into Hinata's soul like the stray cats he encountered on the street. It was like they were assessing him, gathering every piece of info they could find from his body language, breathing patterns and heartbeat. How they gave info, Hinata didn't know, but he definitely felt his insides were acting up somehow. But even so, there was an obvious warmth to them too, as if the mage was growing comfortable around him.

"Who are you?" The stranger asked. Hinata jumped, too entranced by the mysterious nature of his eyes to prepare himself.

"Uh- uh- I'm Hinata Shouyou!!... And you?" He asked back, hoping the brief moment of relief would help get his act together.

"Kozume."

"Huh?" _Dang it, Shouyou, don't you wanna make it less awkward?!_ "Sorry, didn't quite catch that..."

"Kozume. Kozume... Kenma."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy was this a long chapter! I just really wanted it to end on Kenma's intro. Don't worry! I'll do Daichi, Suga and Asahi (and others) justice in the upcoming battles!

**Author's Note:**

> Since I have college to worry about, inconsistent posting applies. No idea when's next update. Sorry to betray you.


End file.
